Cricket: NZC sad to see Graham leave

By Richard Boock

The New Zealand cricketers will lose a manager as well as a coach at the end of this winter's tour of England.

Former All Black captain and Auckland Grammar principal John Graham has confirmed he will not seek re-appointment as manager when his contract expires in August - at the end of the four-test series against England.

Graham apparently resisted an impassioned plea from New Zealand Cricket to continue in the role before advising the board of his decision last week.

"He could have had the job for life as far as I was concerned," NZC's chief executive Chris Doig said yesterday. "John's contribution has been quite outstanding. We desperately wanted him to stay."

Initially appointed for a two-year term in 1996 following the overthrow of Glenn Turner and the resignation of Gren Alabaster, Graham was later asked to stay on for the test series in England, and for longer if possible.

His impending departure, along with that of coach Steve Rixon - who had already said he would step down at the same time - leaves New Zealand facing their third new coach-manager combination in four years.

Doig said NZC would at the end of the month advertise worldwide for a new coach, and domestically for a new manager.

The Sydney-based Rixon has already called for a Kiwi to be appointed as the new coach, but even if NZC agrees, there is a difficult task in deciding which one.

On the domestic front, Central Districts' Shell Trophy-winning coach Dipak Patel, Auckland's David Trist and Northern Districts' Chris Kuggeleijn join former New Zealand coach Warren Lees at the top of the contenders' list, although it could be that Lees is also eyeing the manager's post.

Former New Zealand captain John Wright, at present in charge of English county side Kent, would be a strong candidate if he could extricate himself from contractual obligations, but it seems that his old team-mate John Bracewell - now at Gloucestershire - will be not be in the running.

Neither would it seem likely, given New Zealand's crammed international programme over the next couple of years, that a caretaker coach - someone such as technical adviser Ashley Ross (who might apply for the main job anyway) - will be appointed, although Doig is loath to rule out any possibilities.

"These are enormously important appointments and we're anxious that people with the right sort of qualifications have the chance to make further inquiries.

"But what we won't be doing is tapping someone on the shoulder and inviting them to coach New Zealand."

Doig said the appointments would be announced when the team returned home in August.