Graham Ford, the backroom specialist (22 April 1999)

22 April 1999

Graham Ford, the backroom specialist

Trevor Chesterfield

CENTURION (South Africa) - It is typical of Graham Ford's open style of sport management to admit that although he went to the same schools as Jackie McGlew and Jonty Rhodes, he will always remain in the shadows cast by the two Test players.

Now heir apparent to Bob Woolmer's post as South Africa's coach, confirmed earlier this week and which he assumes on July 1, the quiet former Natal B captain may have more humble roots as a player but the Merchiston and Maritzburg College route along with the Nuffield Week cap has a proud tradition.

Yet a casual glance at his record explains from what tutored direction the now 38-year-old Graham Xavier Ford emerged in his formative summers. His competitive cutting edge was honed more on the enclosed spaces of a tennis court than directing operations from first slip or gully.

He won the Natal men's singles once and the men's double a few times as well playing for the province from 1979 to around 1986 and in between did an officers course at Oudsthoorn. He also managed to get himself on what was once known as the Sugar Circuit, the coastal international tennis circus. Yet he did not loose sight of the McGlew/Rhodes connection.

Although Fordie readily admits he prefers the one-day-at-a-time approach, his backroom style of management, which quickly asserted itself in Sri Lanka with the South African A team last year, is as carefully planned as it is carried out.

As he explained in Colombo one wet evening last July planning too far ahead is a risky business. It fails to cater for the unusual, the Murphy's Law code conduct where nothing is guaranteed.

After 32 overs, or one and a half sessions of play, in the first 12 days of that forgotten soggy tour, it needed more than touch rugby, kicking about a soccer ball and hours of yet another indoor net to keep the players motivated. Yet the quiet Natal Dolphins coach often kept a disgruntled party of 15 focused on the matches.

He was often a "father figure" as he went among the players who knew their careers were being washed away on a tide of continual monsoon conditions. Dispensing advice with a touch of Fordie's "philosophy" the bone-shaking dilapidated bus which took the side around the country was his couch.

From veteran sub-continental travellers to the novices, they turned to him and Henry Pualse, the team's manager, for advice. A bunch of young South Africans in a foreign land: all but forgotten at home, seemingly abandoned and the reports of their progress ignored. It was far from easy, especially with ground drainage non-existent and net facilities generally an embarrassment.

Yet they all related to Fordie in different ways and the message came through.

"It's a tough tour and we'll show them, we're here to win."

Youngsters grew under his guidance, developed confidence and became better, stronger players on a tour where mind games often played tricks.

So, if you want to know what sort of coach is Fordie, ask Dale Benkenstein, Derek Crookes, Ashwell Prince, Martin van Jaarsveld, Herschelle Gibbs, Nic Pothas. They went to hell and back and survived to tell the stories. The tour of New Zealand as Woolmer's assistant was a tea party on a calm lake.

The way he pulled together the side showed through a determined team spirit which developed on the tour and created friendships, overcoming the irritations of poor travel arrangements and in some cases hotel accommodation

Yet the man himself readily admits to being at the right place at the right time. His role as Natal under/23 coach for several years brought on Benkenstein and Crookes and Rhodes along with Mark Bruyns, Doug Watson an a number of others.

As he modestly suggests, he pushed his toe in the door and when the Natal senior position came up took it on in 1992/93. He had take over from Mike Procter, which is one of life's ironies as it was Woolmer, the man he replaces, who took over from Procter.

Yet he sees his post as being one of pooling resources. He is looking to enlist the help of Jimmy Cook and the various provincial coaches.and specialist courses. The fringe players will also be brought in and given a chance to show off their skills and ability.

"We need to look closely at the new talent coming through and have them play a pro-active role," he said."Batting courses, bowling courses, especially for spinners, They are all part of the process of improving players skills and techniques."

As can be expected there was praise for Malcolm Marshall and Clive Rice. Fordie was taken under their collective wings and learnt from both, especially from Marshall, the true art of swing and seam bowling.

A year ago Fordie was minding his own business and looking after the Natal Academy as the director. Now he's a little more than three months away from taking over from Woolmer who has, with Hansie Cronje, turned the side into a battled-hardened squad.

"Filling those shoes is not going to be at all easy," he said, but after observing the way he handled the Sri Lanka tour, you know somehow he is going to succeed.

Source :: Trevor Chesterfield, Pretoria News