Wright, Leipus to stay till World Cup

new delhi: the cricket board has renewed its contract with coach john wright and physio andrew leipus with slight modifications in fine print and also engaged trainer adrian le roux. the three contracts run till the end of the 2003 world cup in south africa, barring unforeseen developments. the new contracts were signed in hyderabad during the india-zimbabwe fourth one-dayer.wright's contract has been renewed on existing terms without any increase in his emoluments, but with a rider that the contract will be for six months and if renewed, it will last till the world cup. he will be paid $175,000 tax free a year, with the board picking up the tax. he is allowed three visits, either to his native new zealand or his base in england. wright apparently wanted to make six visits a year, but the board rejected it just as it refused to entertain leipus' request for an increase in his present fee of 2,000 australian dollars (approximately $1000) a week and guarantee work for 40 weeks a year. he was satisfied when he realised that the indians will in any case be playing international cricket for more than 40 weeks. le roux will also be paid the same as leipus. when on tours, the three will also be paid match fees and allowances on par with the players. both wright and leipus wanted the board to honour certain commitments made by the previous set-up, but the board officials refused to take cognisance of it. wright took up the job in november 2000 when the board was headed by a c muthiah with jayawant lele as secretary. the three will have to utilise the ptas (pre-travel arrangement) in rupee value and not in foreign exchange. when the indian team is not playing, the services of wright, leipus and le roux will be utilised for other purposes like visiting the national cricket academy or conducting camps and seminars. after the zimbabwean visit, leipus was asked to conduct a camp in bangalore for physios. after the five-day camp he left for home in south africa. he will either come here to join the squad for the west indies tour or will join it in london. in wright's case, he is entitled to a month's privilege leave a year and he can take it in between series too. the board had also paid former australian coach geoff marsh $30,000 as consultation fee, plus to and from air passage, for four visits. the previous board officials had hired marsh, who is now zimbabwe coach, to provide the board a blueprint for domestic cricket. ''all he did was to present a preliminary report on structural changes in the ranji trophy and wanted more time to study the way indian cricket is run by the board and the state associations to get a clear picture,'' said a senior board official.