6 Average players who turned out to be great coaches

6 Average players who turned out to be great coaches: When a bunch of the most skilled eleven players take the field in national colours, they are playing to make their country the best cricketing nation across the globe. And to help them in their objective they have the a team of coaches whose prime job is to motivate the players and iron out any of their technical flaws. But does cricket coaching require a great degree of international playing experience as well? Many experts believe that in order to be a good coach you must first be a good player. Cricketing history though, doesn’t support this line of thinking. There have been many great coaches who were ordinary players at the highest level. Here we list 6 Average players who turned out to be great coaches: 1. John Buchanan John Buchanan. (Photo Source: AFP) A teacher by trade, and a one-time university lecturer, his first-class career never progressed beyond seven Sheffield Shield appearances for Queensland in 1978-79. Buchanan’s selection as the Aussie coach in 1999 was considered to be a dubious one but eventually turned out to be masterstroke. At one stage his record as national coach read – Played 15 Won 15 – you can’t do much better than that. Put in charge of a team that was used to being led by example, Buchanan approached his job with a whole new perspective, and, crucially, the approval of his captain, Steve Waugh, who was a keen student of the game. Buchanan believed his role was to expand the horizons of his team by developing the individuals within – and not just in a cricketing sense. 2. Dav Whatmore Dav Whatmore. (Photo Source: AFP) Retired Australian cricketer and professional cricket coach Dav Whatmore had a very short international career of seven Test matches and a single ODI as an Australian player. But that did not stop him from excelling in his coaching job. Today, the Sri Lankan team are a force to reckon with and one of the reasons for that is this man. Sri Lanka won the 1996 World Cup during his tenure and since then they’ve consistently put up some exceptional performances in all formats. Whatmore later coached the Bangladesh team from 2003 to 2007 and helped the Bangladeshis pull off a few upsets, the most memorable being the win against India in the 2007 ODI world cup that sent India packing from the tournament. 3. Mike Hesson Mike Hesson. (Photo Source: PA Photos) Mike Hesson was involved with Otago cricket for 15 years before taking over as Kenya coach after the team’s poor performance in the 2011 World Cup. Hesson could be with the Kenya team only for a year as he was facing security issues for himself and his family. He took up coaching at an unusually early age of 22, beginning with a seven-year apprenticeship as Otago cricket’s director of coaching. In July 2012, he was named John Wright’s replacement as New Zealand’s head coach and is still serving in that position. His partnership with Brendon McCullum has worked wonders as New Zealand reached the finals of the 2015 ODI World Cup. 4. Duncan Fletcher Duncan Fletcher. (Photo Source: PA Photos) Fletcher was a competitive Zimbabwe allrounder at one point of time and led the minnow nation to a famous win over Australia in the 1983 World Cup in England. He could never play Test cricket because Zimbabwe did not qualify for the longest format of the game back then. In 1999 he became the first foreign coach of the England cricket team and had the mountainous task of turning the fortunes around of the side. But he was able to achieve that task, as he built a healthy relationship with Nasser Hussain, the then captain of the side. England went on to win not just at home, but more importantly away in the period of 2000-2004, His tenure with India was a mixed one as he could not help the team stop the slide of their overseas losses. The only considerable high in his stint was India winning the Champions Trophy in 2013. 5. Mickey Arthur Mickey Arthur. (Photo Source: Getty Images) He may have had the dedication to perform well, but perhaps he was not destined to become a top cricket player which is what he realized following an inconsistent domestic career, which had no proper direction. It was surprising to a certain extent that Arthur was chosen to be the one by Cricket South Africa to coach the national team as he was not very experienced. His first two Test series as coach happened to be against a rampant Australia, both away and at home, and South Africa were easily brushed aside. South Africa then clinched a tense one-day series win over Australia at home, which culminated in that match at Johannesburg where South Africa chased 434. Back-to-back Test and one-day series victories against India and Pakistan at home were evidence of his good work. 6. Tom Moody Tom Moody. (Photo Source: Getty Images) One of the tallest cricketers in the history of Cricket, Tom Moody did not have a long career and played only 8 Tests for Australia. Regarded as a bits and pieces player he was never a permanent member of the Aussie side. A persistent back injury forced Moody to retire in 2000-01, and he took to coaching and also became an analyst in the media. In 2005, he was in contention to become India’s coach but lost out to Greg Chappell. Moody became Sri Lanka’s coach a few months later, and took them to the final of the 2007 World Cup. He resigned the job soon after and returned to Western Australia. He was also the coach of the Punjab franchise in the Indian Premier League before being named coach of the Hyderabad in 2013.

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6 Average players who turned out to be great coaches

3. Mike Hesson

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