CM-Jenkins: Emburey Makes Telling Case For The Softly-Softly Approach (13 Jan 1997)

13 January 1997

Emburey makes telling case for the softly-softly approach

Christopher-Martin Jenkins

MUCH has been read, seen and heard of David Lloyd, the coach, and Ian Botham, the bowling consultant on the current England tour; very little of John Emburey, the official bowling coach, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins.

What role for him, if Lloyd is looking after the batting and Botham the seam bowlers, who outnumber the spinners by seven to two? He appears to act as little more than guru to the hitherto tempestuous Philip Tufnell, and technical guide to Robert Croft, who already looks capable of being a more effective off-spin bowler at Test level than the respected Embers himself, for all his 147 wickets and 10 fifties in 64 Tests.

Not so, according to John Barclay, the third member of the official management team on a tour which also has assistance from a full-time physiotherapist and a specialist fitness consultant in Dean Riddle.

"John is a genuinely useful part of the overall blend," he says. "He allows Bumble [Lloyd] to take a more rounded view and tempers his enthusiasm with a calmer, more reflective approach. He works well with the batsmen and all the bowlers, not just the spinners, talking to them quietly on a one-to-one basis. You might not have guessed it from the results, but the whole thing is actually working very well."

He would say that, of course, but the next few weeks may prove that he is not just whistling in the dark and that, however slowly, progress is being made. Barclay keeps in contact with Bob Bennett, chairman of the committee now responsible for coordinating all aspects of English cricket at representative level, and also with David Graveney, whose employers, the Cricketers Association, have changed their minds about allowing him to become chairman of selectors, which instantly promotes him above Graham Gooch as favourite.

Graveney has a high regard for Emburey and if a book were to be made now it would be the Northamptonshire coach rather than either of his contemporaries, Gooch and Mike Gatting, who would be the favourite to be Lloyd`s successor, whether the chance comes in three months or five years.

England desperately need a period of continuity, but whether Lloyd`s hyperactive approach will stand the strain of public exposure if the results do not improve remains to be seen. He could have caused further offence to sensitive Zimbabweans by saying when he got to Auckland last week that the practice facilities were "a million times better" than they had been in Harare. He no more meant that to be taken literally than his often quoted "we murdered them" in Bulawayo but off-the-cuff comments can be exploited.

Lloyd is viewed as being faddish and downright barmy by a good many former England players, who ridicule the idea of a preparatory tour to Portugal in which bats were used only for running between the wickets. It is a fact, though, that England have lagged behind other countries, especially Australia and South Africa, in the application of sports science to cricket and there is probably room even now for a bit more psychological support to go with the physiological.

If so, it certainly needs an Emburey to remind everyone that a game of cricket and a series of Test matches is won by taking wickets and scoring runs. One of his major duties is to speak for the unchanging basics of the game and he does it without frill, drawing on 24 years of experience as a first-class cricketer and a store of knowledge which is less self-orientated than that of many another old pro.

Like Ray Illingworth he has an instant recall of past players and matches but it is greatly to Emburey`s advantage when it comes to relating with players half his age in the team that he was taking 74 championship wickets for Middlesex only two seasons ago and still wheeling through economical overs for Northamptonshire in a final at Lord`s last summer. Like Gatting he is keen to secure his future as a coach but very reluctant to give up county cricket.

"I`ll probably announce my retirement halfway through next season," he said on the eve of the four-day match in Palmerston North, well aware that this was precisely what he had said last June, too. He is still feeling his way as manager-coach-player and knows he did the right thing when he turned down the opportunity to become England`s coach last April.

He was Ray Illingworth`s starred candidate and one tour as coach to the England A team was deemed to be sufficient experience by a Test and County Cricket Board desperate to find a credible choice with a decent Test record. Since Phil Neale did not have the latter, the choice boiled down to Lloyd or Emburey.

"I`d just accepted the job at Northamptonshire and I really didn`t feel I`d had enough experience. I found the job at Northampton harder than I`d expected. I knew I`d take time to learn the organising skills - it`s not my strongest suit - and I thought the art of man management would be easier than it is. I`ve got eleven batsmen who could all play in the first team. It`s the old problem of senior players holding down positions and younger ones with the talent to take their places. I`ve tried to bring a Middlesex-style openness into the dressing-room, so that everyone can have a say with no recriminations.

"There was a time early on this tour when I wasn`t quite sure if there was a role for an assistant manager and it may well be that when the tour comes out in the wash they decide there isn`t. But I hope I`ve found a positive role. It`s not just a question of coaching - players at this level don`t really need technical advice so much as advice and discussion about how to play against certain players, what shots to play or cut out, or what areas to bowl to this or that batsman. We worked out, for example, where to bowl at David Houghton and we managed to reduce his scoring options to the extent that he played quite a small part in the series in Zimbabwe.

"I can be useful as a cypher for players who are discontented or worried about anything, too, as I was with Mike Gatting at Middlesex. Players may feel that they can`t talk to the captain or the coach about something but that they can do so to me. I can plead their case then without anyone feeling umbrage. It has happened with one or two players on this trip."

LLOYD is a great believer in the video and spends much of his time during matches filming. He can do so safe in the knowledge that someone of like mind is watching and talking in the dressing-room. "I couldn`t have handled all the things a coach has to do and say on tour," says Emburey. "A few years down the line, perhaps I`ll be ready for it."

Mike Atherton clearly does not feel that he has been, as Emburey puts it, "dead wood". Times have changed since Mike Brearley resented the idea of Ken Barrington as a technical coach because he believed him to be out of touch with the contemporary game. Atherton seems happy to take all the support he is offered. "Embers talks good cricketing common sense," he says. "He`s good with the players one-to-one; he`s bowled endless overs in the nets; and he`s shrewd in selection meetings."

The assistant coach is a good deal more influential than his title suggests. He is perhaps less well informed than he should be about the fringe New Zealand players - "we`re getting some videos from Sky" is hardly a substitute for going to watch potential members of their side - but he will be watching the opposition in the four-day game starting here tomorrow just as closely as he will his own team and his input will help to make England`s approach that much more knowledgeable and professional than before. All they have to do now is to start winning.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)