Arjun Singh for coach

UMPIRE'S POST

Soon after Graham Ford refused the Board of Control for Cricket in India's offer to coach the Indian team, Sunil Gavaskar, part of the seven-member selection committee, said the board was "back to square one".

Now, Gavaskar, as a batsman, had a very precise square cut. But his "square one" remark is a bit off. Okay, make that a long way off.

It is not just that Ford has said no. John Emburey "" a mediocre spinner in his playing days, fired as coach by Northamptonshire, and under whom Middlesex was relegated, said no too. He had not been made an offer. Tom Moody is happy where he is. Ravi Shastri, who took charge in Bangladesh, is not interested. Invidious rumourmongers say Tony Roche, sacked by Roger Federer, is in contention. If your heart begins to yearn for a return to the chaotic days of Greg Chappell, it cannot be square one. This is way, way behind.

Square one was just after the World Cup. Chappell "" finally good sense prevailed over him "" had resigned and shown immense wisdom in thwarting BCCI's efforts to make him the head of the cricket academy. To take things a little ahead, Dav Whatmore had openly sought the job.

Whatmore's is an impeccable CV, including a World Cup win with Sri Lanka, a team that was a bit of a whipping boy of world cricket when he took charge.

Spending years in the subcontinent, he achieved the near-unthinkable in this year's World Cup, taking a raw Bangladesh into the second round and beating India and South Africa.

Naturally, with every rationale backing Whatmore, BCCI rebuffed him and wooed weaker CVs which, as it turned out, did not include keenness for the job. The hard truth is, one of the most highly paid and sought-after jobs in world cricket has no takers today.

When Wright was drafted in 2000, the runner-up was Greg Chappell. When Chappell was picked two years ago, Moody and Desmond Haynes were given regret slips. We always had the luxury of choosing from among some of the acclaimed thinkers of the game, who had also tasted success.

As the team begins its tour of England, it is going through the preparatory camp without a coach. On tour, it will be under the tutelage of Chandu Borde, 72, who last handled the team two decades ago. On Thursday, the political parties rejected the candidature of Arjun Singh for the President's post on the ground of age. The reason given was that the President's duties, such as inspecting a guard of honour, were physically demanding. Maybe Singh could still coach India.