'The underdog tag suits our mentality'

Dennis Aberhart is arguably one of the best coaches doing duty in world cricket just now. He also has to be in a dead heat with India's John Wright, when it comes to keeping the profile low. Like the really good coaches, Aberhart is seen, and heard from, only through the results the team achieves - remember that it was under him that last year, New Zealand gave Australia one heck of a scare in the Test series, and then went on to knock them out of the one-day triangular finals, that too in Australia itself.

Aberhart, a school teacher then school principal (of St Paul's Catholic School, Christ Church), began his cricketing career as a medium pacer for Central Districts. He parlayed that into an alternative profession as coach for first class sides, before being given his current assignment with the national side.

Where lies the connection between being principal of a school and coach of the national cricket team? Simple, says Aberhart - both have to do with getting the best out of people, be they scholars or cricketers.

Aberhart is a reluctant talker - getting him to agree for an interview took a tremendous amount of persuasion. What follows, are excerpts of the conversation he had with Faisal Shariff:

What's with your low profile? Is it intentional?

I don't think it's an intentional thing. My job doesn't require a high profile. My players have to play the game and a high profile is necessary for them. It's just my job to support them. I don't need to have a high profile at all.

What is your vision for the side?

We want to be a really good side. Obviously, we want to do well in the World Cup and get in a position where we can probably win the Cup. We should be able to beat good sides and do well.

In the year or so since you took over the job, how far do you think the team has moved towards that goal?

Personally, it's been a really good year and we have been performing well as a team. We made it to the finals in Australia, but were disappointed losing to South Africa. We are number three in the ICC Test Rankings; also we have won our first series away in the West Indies. We have had good successes along the way but we need to be a bit more consistent, and we are working on that.

At a time when Australia has redefined how Test cricket is being played, your team held them at bay. What is the secret?

In the first two Tests the weather helped us, the fact that it rained. We decided to take on the Aussies, not taking a backward step, and there was a strong belief in ourselves. We had some individual players doing very well -- Chris Cairns had a good series, Shane Bond bowled well as a strike bowler, there were some other players who stuck around. We went there thinking of taking on the Australians and we made sure that we did just that.

Does this mean the Aussies have a chink in their armor they need to patch up?

No, they are a very strong side, they don't need to change. If you can stick on for long enough and put pressure, then any side can crack. This happened in both the Tests and ODIs, we kept up the pressure, stuck to it, and it had an impact on the Australians.

Discounting Cairns for the moment, does the fact that your team does not have superstars count as a plus?

It's great to have superstars in your side, people who you know can go out there to compete, even beat, the world's best. You would prefer to have a superstar or two in your team. But you also need to have the whole team contributing, and that has been our strength, they fight well as a team and everyone contributes.

So would you wish you were in John Wright's shoes, and had all those superstars in your side?

I am not envious of Wright, it's great he has these superstars to work with. But I think that it suits the New Zealand mentality to go out there and bat as a team, everyone doing their best and playing for the team. It is good though to have people who can really step up, so that others can play around them.

How do you rate this Indian Test side?

I think they have done well in recent times. They had a great series in England. They are a talented lot, and we are looking forward to competing against them. I'd think they have to strive for consistency, just like us.

Were you keeping an eye on the India-England series as a part of your preparation for this tour?

We did watch, had a look, noted things we saw that we may be able to use to counter-attack them.

One day you were coaching club cricketers and kids, the next you had to coach international cricketers. How easy or difficult was it, to make that transition?

I had worked with a lot of these players previously, in Canterbury, a lot of them are from that place. I had worked with them with the Canterbury team. I have coached them at some stage or the other and so I know them pretty well. I have coached Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Shane Bond (all from Canterbury) when I was there.

New Zealand has made it to the World Cup semifinals time and again, yet they are always the `underdogs', in public perception. Do you reckon your side doesn't get due credit?

I don't think so, and it doesn't matter anyway. It's only the team and the individual that has to feel good about what they have achieved - who cares what other people and the media have to say? Reality is, you need to be honest with yourself. Yes, we are often the underdogs, but that suits us, it suits us as a team, it suits our mentality. So I don't have any problems with the underdog tag, it is positive for us.

Who do you rate as the best batsman in the world, and why?

I think it has to be Sachin Tendulkar, you have got a lot of top players around in the world, but I think Tendulkar has certainly shown his class every time he has played. Look around the world, you will find Brian Lara has done well, Steve Waugh and Mathew Hayden and others are scoring a lot of runs.

But then, the argument is that Tendulkar has not won India a single away series, unlike some of the other guys you mentioned...

I don't think that's the result of Sachin Tendulkar not doing what he needs to do. I think that the fact that India has not done well away from home is not a reflection on Tendulkar.

Why not? Brian Lara has won games single-handedly for the West Indies...

It doesn't matter how many runs you score as an individual, or even as a team - the bottomline is you have to get 20 wickets.

What is your assessment of John Wright as coach of the Indian team?

He was a fine player for New Zealand, he showed a lot of fighting qualities. He never gave his wicket away, he worked hard on his game, and I think he takes that attitude to his coaching as well. He is a very genuine person, who gets along with people. I think he has done a pretty good job with the Indians - it is a hard challenge, coming from outside and coaching India, but he is doing it well.

Stephen Fleming got the New Zealand captaincy at a very young age, and had to take the additional pressure alongside his batting. How do you assess him?

He is the best captain in the world, he has been very successful. He has a very sound knowledge of the game, he makes good calls on the field and he is a good leader off it as well.

Sir Richard Hadlee was one of the greatest swing bowlers ever - has New Zealand failed to find a successor?

I don't think anybody can replace Hadlee. All round the world, you have had great players who can never be replaced. You don't look for another Hadlee - he is missed, a lot. Some of the guys got into the team as the previous generation was on the verge of quitting, and the old-timers passed on their experiences to the young ones. Today's seniors began their cricket just after the Hadlee era, they have had time to grow, there is a bit more of experience showing in the side.

How much of a say do you have in team composition?

I am a selector, there are four of us - Sir Richard is chairman, Brain Ckece, Ross Tykes and myself, we select the team when we are at home, Stephen Fleming and I select the team while on tours.

Is that important, a coach being a selector as well? Recently, Australia took away John Buchanan's selectorial privileges...

My feeling is that if I am going to be coaching the side, I want to have a say in the selection. I think even if you are not an official selector you, as coach, do have a say. I am sure coaches of the other sides are asked their opinion, even if they may not have the final say. So, I believe you must be upfront, and be a selector.

New Zealand has been making rapid strides, what do you think the reason is? When I met Jeff Crowe, the last time he was in India, he told me cricket is now becoming corporate, it is very methodical...

I think players need to do the basics right, do it well, so if it has become methodical, that is fine. Whether you are batting, bowling or fielding, you need to get the basics right. It's difficult to play if you haven't had a good base to build on. New Zealand cricket has started developing on basics. We have got the likes of Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle who play lovely cricket now and are far more experienced. We have players which play freely like Craig McMillan, Chris Harris, and also Chris Cairns. I think we are getting a bit of a mix now in the team.

When I spoke to former Kiwi coach David Trist, he told me, there are more sheep in New Zealand than people, it is difficult to produce an abundance of talent to pick from. Do you agree?

Well, we have a bit of player base; we have got six first class teams. There have been a lot of injuries in the recent past, so more players got exposed to international cricket and I think that is good. Now we have increasing competition for places within the team. We have probably got 20-22 players, who could play successfully at the international level. The senior players are now taking responsibility to perform on a consistent basis, there are younger players challenging them for a place, so I think we have a big player base, also we have growing number of players who have had experience at the international level.

Does the popularity of rugby keep youngsters from taking to cricket in big numbers?

Well, rugby is huge and also rugby is now being played during the cricket season. So there is great competition between cricket and rugby. I don't know whether its just rugby, it could also be because of the trend of losing weekends. People these days find themselves working on weekends, so it becomes harder to play or follow cricket, and to stick to it for a long time. It is not just that there is competition between two sports, there is also competition between sport and studies and work and other things. New Zealand is putting a cricket academy in place and the sports authorities are encouraging people to look at cricket as a career. So we are seeing some big efforts there. But it is always a big challenge to make sure people play the game in increasing numbers.

To round it off - with New Zealand, it is often a case of so near yet so far. Like say in that ODI series in Australia, where you dumped Australia, but then lost in the finals to SA. What's it going to take, to turn the team into good finishers?