Here goes Mr. Buchanan again!

Is John Buchanan a great coach? I have no idea. What I do know is that Australia have had great results with him in front of the laptop, so some credit is due to him. What I also know is that he was coaching a team that was already the undisputed numero uno, despite the odd setback here and there. So the skeptics may deny him much or any credit at all. I'm not sure one way or the other. What I know is that Buchanan has a tendency to pontificate on various things cricket. With an obliging media, pundits and fans alike resigned to Aussie supremacy (not without reason), it is fair to say, Buchanan has got more than his fair share of spotlight. So much so that he's also been invited to impart his two-bits on leadership at a top IT company in India (Infosys, was it?). It's all fine, really, no grudging the man his spot under the sun. But when he comes up with inane psychological warfare (or, shall we say, mental disintegration?) stuff he gets on my nerves. Consider this report on Cricinfo. If at all he was paying attention to everything that was going around him, Buchanan should have realized one thing - England dominated Australia for two whole tests. The fact that England could not capitalize on the chance to go 2-1 up has more to do with lack of experience in such situations than any psychological scars. Steve Harmison's last over indicated as much. I digress - Buchanan opined further that England's weaknesses remained and that Australia created chances from the top order. Well guess what? Australia didn't take those chances thanks to their sloppy catching. All series, their catching has only been less suspect than that of Pietersen. And what about Australia's own problems? And if Buchanan and company were really tuned in, they would have omitted the completely out-of-sorts Jason Gillespie from the Old Trafford eleven, something so obvious it is quite staggering as to how Australia missed it. What about Matthew Hayden's continuing troubles? How about Gilchrist? They could do with some gyaan from Buchanan. It's all fine being cocky after getting out of jail, but this England side does have the necessary firepower to sustain their challenge. Thankfully, Ricky Ponting does have a cool head and feet firmly rooted in the ground, which is probably why he was able to buckle down and play one of his best innings. - NK