England role tempts Buchanan

	John Buchanan: 'It is up to [the ECB] to decide whether they think I can be of value to them' © AFP Enlarge

John Buchanan has turned down an approach to take on the position of England head coach, but has held preliminary talks with senior ECB officials regarding the possibility of joining them in a consultancy capacity ahead of this year's Ashes series.

Buchanan until recently held a similar position with Cricket Australia, however his contract as the board's coaching ambassador has lapsed. He has since worked with the England Lions on their tour of New Zealand, and advised Odgers Ray & Berndtson - the corporate recruiting firm contracted by the ECB to find its new head coach - about the qualities he believes would make a successful England coach.

Odgers sought to short-list Buchanan for the coaching position, but the relationship has evolved since he turned down the initial approach. Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, is a known advocate of Buchanan's coaching philosophies, and the pair have discussed the possibility of him joining the England set-up in a manner not dissimilar to Duncan Fletcher's role at South Africa.

"We have not agreed upon anything formal yet," Buchanan said. "I've had discussions with [ECB national performance director] David Parsons and brief talks with Hugh Morris. Something may eventuate, something may not. It is up to them to decide whether they think I can be of value to them.

"As I understand it, my [CA] contract has not been renewed by the general manager of development. Nothing has been formally told to me, but they have not sent me a new contract, so I assume I have been pushed to one side.

"The cricket world needs a strong England game. I've got some views, thoughts, ideas and opinions that I think can assist them in improving their game. As I have done with cricket in Australia and in the IPL, I hope I can provide these in a way that would make a small contribution to what they hope to achieve."

Buchanan and fellow Australian Tom Moody are among those to have turned down Odgers' attempts to short-list them for the England coaching position. But unlike Moody, who is content to continue with Western Australia and the Kings XI Punjab for the foreseeable future, Buchanan is amenable to the idea of working with the team he spent so much of his career deconstructing.

"The initial approach was to take on the job, but I don't feel that I could do it justice with my other commitments," said Buchanan, who also coaches the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. "I would be happy to work with them in some sort of consultancy capacity.

	I want to try and help world cricket as best I can. I have finished with Cricket Australia, but I still would like to work with them, just as I would like to help English cricket and the IPL

"We have held discussions on what that (coaching) role should be, and we will talk about other things on an ongoing basis. Morris is in the Windies at the moment, so communication has been a little difficult. I worked with England for a couple of days in New Zealand. Dene Hills was a former assistant coach of mine, and he asked whether I could spend a bit of time with the England Lions while they were on tour there. I was really impressed with the group of people they had. We had some good discussions.

"I want to try and help world cricket as best I can. I have finished with Cricket Australia, but I still would like to work with them, just as I would like to help English cricket and the IPL. I want to grow the game and make it stronger than it is, better than it is."

Buchanan earned a reputation as a lateral thinker during his eight years at the helm of Australia - a trait that was not everyone's taste - and his penchant for left-field ideas was again evident in his recent advice to the ECB. If resources allowed, Buchanan felt the role of England team director should be divided into two, allowing a traditional cricket coach to join forces with an overseer, who could be recruited from another sport.

"It's a massive job," he said. "They would obviously be looking at a few people who have coached at international level before. I think a bit of a wildcard could be Ric Charlesworth. He obviously has a job with Australian hockey, but he would be just the kind of person to challenge things and bring new ideas to the job. Football coaches could bring something. We should always be open to new ideas. I have relayed some of my views, but I guess a lot of it will be determined by what sort of role they see the director of cricket filling."