John Wright

Profile

A former New Zealand cricketer and captain, John Wright was certainly one of the most widely respected coaches of the Indian cricket team. He served as India’s head coach for a period of five years till Greg Chappell took over in 2005.

A left-handed opening batsman, Wright was a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket with more than 25,000 first-class runs that included 50-plus half centuries. He represented his home team, Canterbury, Auckland, Northern Districts and also played for Derbyshire in England. Wright made his international debut in 1978 and since then was an integral part of the New Zealand national team in the 1980’s. With his sound defence and graceful stroke play, he helped the team clinch considerable victories against their overseas opponents.

Post his retirement from all forms of cricket in 1993, Wright took up coaching with the Kent County Cricket Club, before being entrusted with the job in the Indian national team. As India’s coach, he brought about immense improvements and set high standards for the team. He enjoyed a successful coaching career from 2000-2005 in the Indian camp. In early 2005, India’s slump in form saw Greg Chappell taking over as the new coach. After a gap of five years, he was named as the coach of the New Zealand cricket team in 2010, replacing Mark Greatbatch. His tenure with the Kiwis ended in 2012, following which he took up the coaching role for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 6.

Fast Facts

• John Wright became the first New Zealander to score 4000 runs in Test cricket.
• He was also the coach of the World XI team that played against Australia in the ICC Super Sport Series of 2005.
• In 1990, he wrote an interesting autobiography named “Christmas in Rarotonga”, with New Zealand writer, Paul Thomas.
• In 2006, Wright wrote a book titled “John Wright’s Indian Summers”, describing his experience in Indian cricket, along with Indian journalist Sharda Ugra and Paul Thomas.

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Career

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