Putting all speculations to rest, the BCCI on Tuesday said former England spinner was the second person in the race for the post of India coach.
NEW DELHI: Putting all speculations to rest, the BCCI on Tuesday said former England spinner John Emburey was the second person in the race for the post of India coach.
"The BCCI has invited Graham Ford and John Emburey to come to Chennai and make a presentation to the Special Committee on 9th June, after which a final decision on the next coach of Indian team will be made," a statement from BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah said.
South African Ford had emerged as prime contender for the Indian job after the BCCI Search Committee's decision, which came after a meeting in Bangalore on Monday evening, to invite him for discussion in Chennai.
However, the BCCI had not named the second person whom it said was trying to get in touch with.
It however said that Dav Whatmore, the former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach who had been the front-runner all along, out of the reckoning.
It was speculated that the unnamed foreigner was either former England coach Duncan Fletcher or former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga whose name was reportedly brought up in the meeting by Sunil Gavaskar one of the three former captains in the Search Committee.
Emburey, 54, played in 64 Tests and took 147 wickets. He was also a capable batsman for an off-spinner, scoring 1713 runs at an average of 22.53 between 1978 and 1995. He took 76 wickets from 61 ODIs.
Besides he also captained England in two Tests in 1988.
With a height of 6.02 feet and a classical action, he was able to trouble the batsmen with bounce and spin.
He also undertook rebel tours to South Africa where he played for Western Province.
Emburey later coached Northamptonshire and Middlesex, two other teams he played for in first-class cricket. He is currently Director of Coaching with Middlesex.
Ford, who coached South Africa between 1999 and 2001 and currently Director of Coaching with Kent County Club, put in his application only a day before the meeting in Bangalore.
Ford, 46, worked as assistant to the late Bob Woolmer with the South African team before taking over from him after the 1999 World Cup and guided the team till 2001 before moving to Kent.
He also has the credit of guiding the Natal team which featured many of the current and recent South African players, like Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and Jonty Rhodes, besides the late West Indian fast bowling legend Malcolm Marshall.
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