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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pata" data-source="post: 518202" data-attributes="member: 2136">by Rex ClementineSeveral high profile names have been spoken of to take up the Sri Lankan coaching job that will fall vacant at the end of this month with the departure of Tom Moody to Western Australia and New Zealander John Wright looks to be the favourite of the country’s cricket hierarchy and even the players."John Wright has done a wonderful job with India and he’ll be our favourite choice," a cricket official told ‘The Island’ yesterday."We’ll be talking to him and if he’s willing to take over, we will go ahead with John," the official added.Sri Lanka Cricket is yet to advertise for the post, but the search for a coach is gradually gaining momentum and board officials will be depending on the feedback of the outgoing coach too.Former Australian opener and coach Geoff Marsh, former South African coach Graham Ford and Greg Shepherd, who is the coach at Victoria, Australia have been other names that have been thought of as suitable replacements, but for the moment the former New Zealand opener looks to be the choice of most top officials."John is a proven coach unlike most of the other names that have been thought of. That means his price will be high too compared to some of the others, but nevertheless it’s an investment worth making," the official said.One of the senior players of the national team told ‘The Island’ before the team’s departure to Abu Dhabi that it’s vital for the board to bring in a coach who will take the team to the next level instead of someone who tries to stamp his authority. "Tom was ideal. He was very methodical and tried to improve every aspect." he said.Wright (53) coached India from 2000-2004 and during those four years took the team to the finals of the Cricket World Cup in 2003 and helped India to square a Test series in Australia. Apart from many of his other achievements, India squaring a Test series in England and the victory in the NatWest Final also during the same tour in 2002 are considered highlights of his career. He also guided India to a historic Test series win against Pakistan in Pakistan.As a player, Wright represented New Zealand in 84 Test Matches scoring over 5000 runs at 37:82 with 12 hundreds and had the honour of scoring hundreds against all six Test playing nations at that time. The left-hander was also the first New Zealander to pass 4000 Test runs. He coached English county Kent before taking over India and with Sourav Ganguly transformed the Indian team into one that won away from home consistently.The Kiwi is a mild mannered bloke by nature, but when the situation demands he has been assertive and tough with the players and he left India as a highly respected coach.He has toured Sri Lanka with the New Zealand team on a couple of occasions, but it was his belated arrival in Colombo during New Zealand’s 1992 tour that lingers in the memory of the country’s sports lovers most. Wright wasn’t initially going to tour Sri Lanka due to personal reasons, but when a bomb went off in Colombo near the team hotel killing the country’s Navy Chief Clancy Fernando on 16th of November 1992, several New Zealand players decided to return home, but captain Martin Crowe stayed back with the majority of the team. Wright made himself available to play in Sri Lanka after a few players withdrew and rushed to Colombo from Christchurch, where he was holidaying.</blockquote>

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