It is captains and players who win or lose matches not coaches: Ian Chappell

Ian Chappell doesn't understand all the fuss over the resignation of Justin Langer, saying it is the captain and players who win matches not the coach. Chappell also advocated replacing the coach position with a manager. After months of complaints regarding his style of coaching, Langer had quit as chief coach, leading to criticism of Pat Cummins from former players, who slammed the skipper and his teammates for not publicly supporting him.

"The demotion of Justin Langer caused Australian hysteria to reach the Monty Python comedy stage, where someone screeches, 'He's not the Australian coach he's a very naughty boy'," Chappell wrote in a column in ESPNcricinfo. "Cricket fans tend to take more notice of who is or isn't the coach rather than focusing on the important matter of the appointed captain. Pat Cummins and his charges take the wickets, make the runs and handle the chances.

It is they, not the coach, who will win or lose the upcoming series in Pakistan." Chappell said international cricketers don't need round the clock coaching and any technical issue is best sorted by fellow players. "Anybody who thinks international players need coaching and mollycoddling 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is confused. International techniques don't disintegrate," he wrote.

"Players might encounter a problem along the way but what goes wrong is generally in the head. A decent natter with a preferred senior player in the team usually sets the cricketer on the right path. "Why are fellow players the best international coaches? For starters they are playing against the same players.