Lloyd: Early England split is amicable (27 March 1999)
WOW
27-Mar-1999
27 March 1999
Lloyd: Early England split is amicable
By David Lloyd
WOW! What a week that was. A helter skelter ride of some
proportions and all of it on the back of me licking my wounds
after an uneventful, to say the least, two days at the Cheltenham
Festival as a guest of the bookmakers Sporting Index, who have a
hospitality box near the winning line.
Everybody pops in, from owners, trainers, racing experts, betting
pundits et al. They all have a view and an ear to the ground as
to where the clever money is. I have listened intently now for
three years and, suffice to say, I have not as yet relieved the
bookies of any 'mullah'...
Cheltenham was a pleasant distraction from the dilemma of what to
do with my life for the next few years. It has been well
documented that my contract with the England Cricket Board
expires at the end of the coming cricket season and from my point
of view, as coach, I felt that I wanted a clear picture of where
I was going in the next three years.
Speculation was rife in the media of 'will he or won't he', which
would clearly impact on the team the longer that situation went
on. As for putting the record straight, you will have to take my
word for it as to the sequence of events and outcome of the
meetings.
Originally, I had in place a rolling contract, which gave me some
security in a job that is acknowledged as demanding, volatile and
precarious. This later became contrary to company policy, and in
its place I would have regular meetings with Lord MacLaurin, the
chairman of the ECB, on a state-of-the-nation and
how-are-things-going basis.
We were entirely consistent and regular with these meetings and
shared our thoughts as to where we were at that time. Ian was at
all times supportive and encouraging, while we obviously talked
about the pluses and minuses of our campaigns. Our recent meeting
would obviously be different in that the contract was coming to
an end.
We met in Ian's office in the City along with Simon Pack, the
international teams director. We chatted about issues relevant to
the team before we came round to my position. I was asked what
would I like to do, to which I replied that I would like to carry
on. I asked whether the board would be looking to renew my
contract after August 1999.
I pointed out that I was 52 years old and, at my time of life,
would like my immediate future to be settled now and I did not
want to be in a position after the World Cup to be potentially
out of work in around six or seven weeks time, especially after
foregoing the security of a rolling contract.
In effect, if I was to stay with the team as coach, fine, if not
I would be working out my notice and would be in the market place
for jobs in my field, which is purely cricket. I have known
nothing else all my life.
Ian explained the board's position and emphasised the importance
of the World Cup in the broader sense of the game in England as a
whole and that the board were not in a position at this time to
extend the contract.
We fully understood each other's position, and it was therefore
up to me to say that, with the board's agreement, I would leave
after the World Cup. From my perspective I now had the breathing
space to be on the look-out for alternative employment. In short,
we all knew where we were going; the team, and that includes
management and coaching, could get on with the job of preparing
for the World Cup without distraction.
Of course, there will be speculation as to who will take over,
but that speculation will be away from me and the team and, if I
was required to, I would be in a position to hand over the team
to the new coach.
It all sounds thoroughly sensible to me, with the bottom line
that the most important people in all this, the players, get on
with the job. After that very amicable meeting things really did
move on apace - back to Lord's to prepare the press release and
arrange for a press conference at Old Trafford.
The statement hit the wires at about 5pm on Tuesday evening of
this week. On the following Wednesday morning at 8.45am John
Gayleard rang me not to offer me a job but to tell me: "You are
now on our team." John is the executive producer of cricket on
Sky Sports, and is nicknamed Animal. In my experience he is not a
man to mess with.
We chatted for all of three minutes and I agreed to be part of
the Sky Sports cricket commentary team for the next three years
at home and abroad.
So there we are, I have tried to tell it how it is. I have had
lots of questions about being "disappointed" and "let down". That
is not for now. I know that the board and I are comfortable with
the outcome and the only thing that matters now is for us to
prepare well for what should be a tremendous celebration of
cricket, the World Cup.
I can promise you that Alec Stewart and the boys will give it
their very best shot. We will not be favourites but will have as
good a chance as anybody. One-day cricket is very much an
on-the-day situation.
To all the lads with whom I have been associated and who have
represented their country over the past few years, you have been
terrific to work with and I can assure you that the pleasure has
been all mine.
To the public, thanks for your support. I know you feel the ups
and downs as much as we do. We are all striving for success and
it will come. To all the press and media, we have had some good
jousts.
Cheltenham may have been unproductive and I am still prodding my
peas around the dinner plate thinking of horses such as Deano's
Beano, Teeton Mill and Go Ballistic. I will get over it, and my
best medicine will be for us - England - to win the World Cup
final. Nice.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)