John Geoffrey Wright (born 5 July 1954) is a former international

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who represented – and captained –

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. He made his international debut in 1978 against

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. He scored more than 5,000 Test runs (the first New Zealand Test player to do so) at an average of 37.82 runs per dismissal with 12 Test centuries, 10 of them in New Zealand. He also played for Derbyshire in England from 1977 to 1988. In

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

he scored more than 25,000 runs, including more than 50 first-class centuries. He scored over 10,000 runs in List A limited-overs cricket. Following his retirement in 1993, he coached the Indian national cricket team from 2000 to 2005 and New Zealand from 2010 to 2012. With India, he helped the national team to be one of the dual-winners of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, along with Sri Lanka, and led the team to the finals of the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

Domestic career

John Wright played cricket for his school, Christ's College, Christchurch, scoring several centuries. When he was studying at Otago University, he would travel from

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on the weekends to play club cricket in order to make the Canterbury team. Unable to make the Canterbury team, he moved to Gisborne and played five first-class games for Northern Districts in the 1975/76 season. At the end of the season, he travelled to England where he spent time playing club cricket and time training with the

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team. Later in the 1976 season, he got the opportunity to play for the Kent second XI, scoring 500 runs at an average of 52. Wright also played for Derrick Robins' XI against Kent, scoring a century. Wright wrote to Derbyshire asking them for a trial on the basis that they were the only English county side without an overseas player. He was invited to play a couple of trial games. He played in a second XI game for Derbyshire against Nottinghamshire. Opening the batting he proceeded to score 159 not out and then had success in the other trial games. As a result, Wright was offered a one-year contract to play for Derbyshire in 1977. After five first-class games for Derbyshire in 1977, he received his county cap and a pay rise.

International career

Wright typically opened the batting for New Zealand, and was noted as a tenacious, rather than spectacular, batsman. His team nickname was "shake"; reputedly a reflection of his packing technique. Together with Bruce Edgar of Wellington, he formed what was arguably New Zealand's most successful and reliable opening partnership. During a match against Australia in 1980, he became the second player in history to score an eight off one ball in a Test, running four and collecting four overthrows. Toward the end of his career he used an unorthodox batting stance. In contrast, most batsman face the bowler with the bat in line with their legs and

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to the ground, Wright would stand with his bat raised parallel to the ground. John Wright graph

Wright was disappointed with the results of his first 20-odd Test matches and after a discussion with Bob Willis, he started working with a sports psychologist. He eventually learnt transcendental meditation. He commented: "Some people call it mental toughness, it wasn't mental toughness, it was just being mentally organised, being able to get out there and express yourself in a way you knew you were capable of but you made it hard for yourself because of the pressure you put on yourself". Wright's Test teammate Ian Smith said of Wright's captaincy of the team: "He had an uncanny knack of bringing out the best in players, some of whom, I'm sure, thought they had already had their best days. I probably played my best cricket under John Wright's leadership; Martin Snedden and John Bracewell would be in the same category". In the 1988 Queen's Birthday Honours, Wright was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to cricket.

Coaching career

After retiring, Wright worked in sales for around two years – self-confessedly without great success. After taking up coaching for Kent County Cricket Club, Wright enjoyed a successful coaching career with India from 2000 to 2005, during which time the team improved immensely, winning a home Test series 2–1 against Australia (which included the historic Kolkata Test which India won coming back from a follow-on with Indian batsman VVS Laxman making 281 not out), drawing a four-match Test series against Australia 1–1 in Australia in 2003–04 ( Steve Waugh's farewell Test series), winning a series against arch-rivals Pakistan, and reaching the final of the 2003 Cricket World Cup held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. The following months saw the team lose form, and series to Australia and Pakistan. In May 2005, former Australian skipper Greg Chappell took over from Wright. Wright was also appointed as coach of the World XI team that played

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in the ICC Super Series 2005. On 20 December 2010, Wright was named as New Zealand's coach, replacing Mark Greatbatch. He resigned that role in 2012, following New Zealand's tour of the West Indies. New Zealand Cricket was keen for him to continue as coach but Wright did not wish to do so. He did not see eye to eye with John Buchanan, who was the Director of Cricket for New Zealand Cricket. "We see things a little differently," Wright said. "It would be fair to say we're probably more comfortable coaching against each other, which we did for four and a half years." In January 2013 Wright was appointed head coach of the

Mumbai Indians The Mumbai Indians are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indians were founded in 2008 and are owned by India's largest Conglomerate (company), co ...

in the Indian Premier League. The Mumbai Indians won that edition of the IPL. Wright has worked with the

for seven years.

Music career

Wright always took his guitar when on tour as a cricketer. He released his debut album ''Red Skies'' in 2017. The songs are about travelling as an international cricketer and coach. He is planning to release an EP of new songs titled ''Jump the Sun''.

Publications

In 1990, together with New Zealand writer Paul Thomas, Wright wrote an autobiography, ''Christmas in Rarotonga''. In 2006, along with Indian journalist Sharda Ugra and Paul Thomas, Wright co-authored the book '' John Wright's Indian Summers'' describing his experiences as coach of the Indian team.

References

External links

Official website of John Wright
for his music * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, John New Zealand cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand Test cricket captains New Zealand One Day International cricketers New Zealand One Day International captains Auckland cricketers Canterbury cricketers Derbyshire cricketers New Zealand expatriate cricketers in England Northern Districts cricketers Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup 1954 births Living people Coaches of the Indian national cricket team New Zealand cricket coaches New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Darfield, New Zealand Coaches of the New Zealand national cricket team D. H. Robins' XI cricketers North Island cricketers Cricketers from the Canterbury Region 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen