'Indian Summers' not meant to stir controversy, insists Wright

New Delhi, July 31: Hoping for a positive response from the fans here, former Team India coach John Wright says his book 'Indian Summers' is only an account of his ''adventurous'' stint in the country and is not aimed at stirring up any controversy.

''I have a great love for Indian cricket and I hope players and people involved with Indian cricket enjoy it,'' Wright told Cricinfo in an interview.

''The wonderful quality of players I worked with. When I was doing my job, I didn't say a lot of things publicly; my style was to work in the background. It's just an honest account of my adventures with the Indian cricket team,'' he added.

Admitting that his views on the selection process in India has ended up being controversial, Wright, however, insisted that his opinions should not be taken as criticism of any individual and people should first read the book before passing any judgement on its content.

''Obviously in any book, if you're honest, if you want to be honest as I have been, there will be one or two controversial issues. That's a natural thing of being in a competitive sporting environment. (But) You can make a judgement only when you read the whole book. That's when you can apply the balance,'' the former India coach said.

Dedicating the book to the Indian fans, Wright said he hoped that people would take to his writing positively and not look for ways to stir up controversies on the various subjects -- particularly selection -- in the book.

''There are chapters on the love of cricket in India, the money involved, the media, the hard roads that the players have to take to get there..... some of their stories, the tours and tournaments we played ... And I hope the Indian fans, who it's dedicated to, along with my children, see it as a positive account of Indian cricket,'' the Kiwi said.

Wright said this was not the first time he expressed his reservations on the selection procedure in India and added that he always considered it a serious issue during his coaching stint. ''I think selection is an issue, I've always thought it needs scrutiny because my opinion as a coach is that selection is more critical than coaching.

Picking the right people is more important than coaching. And that will never change,'' he pointed out.

''I'm not saying my view is correct but I would have thought it would be better to have someone who was fully paid, professional, covering the national team, the A team, the Under 19s etc,'' he explained.

Wright, however, also said that despite his reservations his experience with the Indian selectors has been good and he made some good friends during his stay in the country.

''I enjoyed a lot of selectors - Chandu Borde and the lot, they were good. I've met some very fine selectors and some good men and made some good friends in the selection group that I've worked with.

They were doing their best but there was a lot of pressure on them because of the system and I've always maintained that,'' he said.

The former coach refused to point out any one person and said the system as a whole needed to be revamped for a better future of Indian cricket.

''It's not about this guy or that guy, it's about the system. But that's just my opinion. The BCCI can make its own judgements and have its own system. It's a tough job, such a big country,'' Wright said.

Insisting that the book does not dwell into his meetings with verious BCCI presidents, Wright said he would never make the issues discussed behind the closed doors public.

''I've never been into that. I had good relationships with the media and I've always told the various presidents - Dalmiya, Muttiah, Raj Singh, convenors of the various selection panels - about exactly what I felt. Those conversations weren't public and neither are any of them recorded in the book but I certainly gave my views,'' he revealed.

The Kiwi, who still follows the exploits of his former wards, said he was happy with the progress made by Rahul Dravid and his men and hoped that they would continue to build on the foundation laid by him and former captain Sourav Ganguly.

''I follow them very closely. They've made excellent progress.

I am Impressed and optimistic with the progress that they're making and hopefully they're building on the work that Sourav Ganguly and I tried to do in the four-and-a-half years,'' he said.

UNI