Christchurch: ``Dressing rooms are not churches'', says the former Indian cricket coach John Wright, dismissing Sunil Gavaskar's claim that the Indian players had abused him.

Gavaskar, who was the batting consultant with the Indian team towards the end of Wright's four-year tenure as the coach, had written in a column that the players abused the New Zealander.

``If it happened, it was done in Hindi and behind my back, which is exactly what I would have expected,'' Wright says in his just-published book Indian Summers.

``When they trooped in after a sloppy session, I didn't pat them on the back and say `well done lads'. I asked them where the bloody effort was,'' he writes.

The normally shy ex-New Zealand captain puts it bluntly that he did not mind being abused. "It wasn't beach cricket, and dressing room aren't churches.''

Wright said he always encouraged the boys to be honest and upfront.

``If a player thought I was stuffing up, he had every right to say so, either in private or in front of the team. I wasn't backward in letting them know what I thought of their performances, and I had no problem with them doing the same to me.''

Open environment

He says his intention was to create an honest and open environment where everyone could speak their minds without any fear.

``Most disagreements tended to be one-on-one behind closed doors, but if hard things had to be said in front of the entire group, so be it. We wanted an open and honest environment, and you only get that if everyone feels they can speak their mind without being jumped on and without people getting precious and taking offence.''

Wright has also rubbished criticism that he was too soft with players. ``From time to time outsiders who read too much into my public persona suggested that maybe I was too soft for the job, but I don't think that view held sway on the other side of the dressing room,'' he says.

Relationship with Ganguly

The sweet-sour relationship Wright enjoyed with former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly comes through in the book with the ex-coach acknowledging that this relationship was the subject of ``as much media speculation and gossip as a Bollywood marriage. And like any marriage, there was a honeymoon period, then reality set in and we settled down for the long haul.''

Ganguly's ``high-handedness'' often annoyed Wright but he also secretly admired his ``rebellious streak''.

``His high-handedness often annoyed me, but I secretly admired his rebellious streak because it gave the team some pepper and it got up opposition noses, most famously Steve Waugh's.'' . Wright says he began with the basics as far as dealing with the `Prince of Kolkata' was concerned.

``I thought I could help him tactically, but I began with the basics, suggesting that he get a new watch as it was important the captain was on time.'' — PTI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail