Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
It's not a case of mollycoddling, though. Hussain and Duncan Fletcher were excellent at basically doing what most would call mollycoddling but not allowing it to come accross that way. Hussain also commented on how, under their influence, Caddick made far more effort and was perceived as a "team man" in every respect where he hadn't been earlier.It disrupts team harmony if you do this though. Sure, give the guy a shot in the arm for his first few tests and help him out but you can't accommodate someone for their whole career. He wasn't 5 years old. I have no doubt good man managers helped, but part of being a good man manager is taking in the team's needs as a whole and adjusting both sides to fit accordingly. Mollycoddle Caddick and you'll have 1 friend and 10 people who are becoming increasingly annoyed. At some stage the player in question has to make an effort to meet close to the halfway point.
It's a good general rule - treat someone well and there's a fair chance they'll return the favour.