By Abhay Vajpayee

Loyalty is a thing of the past. And getting a foreigner to guide you seems to be better than hiring one of your own. Then also the foreigner can be lavished with huge salary, all the perks and his choice staff. In contrast, your own is not good enough; he does not deserve a decent salary and perks and staff.

That is your inferiority complex. That is your feelings about the outsider and you don't care if at a certain point he could work against you.

Take the example of India's cricket board, the very rich Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The board always prefers a foreigner to coach Indian teams. It was a John Wright, and then a Greg Chappell. And he is now Gary Kristen. Tomorrow he could be from another country, another planet, not any Indian.

It didn't matter when Chappell virtually destroyed India's cricket reams, ruined some careers and shattered the morale of the players by his weird theories of constantly experimenting and reshuffling, denigrating and demoralizing seniors.

It was Chappell who kind of, had written off Sachin Tendulkar. It was Chappell, again who partly succeeded in destroying Sourav Ganguly. Then again it was Chappell who, after he was out of Indian assignment, went on to assist his own countrymen, the Australian team, against India in the Aussie tour of India. He did not succeed is another matter but he did try.

John Wright was comparatively an honorable man but basically his loyalty has to be with his country, New Zealand. Whatever may be the reasons, you don't hire someone from another country against whom your team would be playing sometime in the future. And you just don't sell yourself against your own country. Naturally, when you were coaching another country's team you would know of their players' weaknesses and strengths. Afterwards you make that experience available to the other countries in lieu of money.

What's then is the difference between a coach, and a spy working for another country for money?

John Buchanan of Australia became the big boss of IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders owned by movie monarch Shah Rukh Khan. He again had his ideas of multiple Captains and destroyed some careers, including Ganguly's. He also completely destroyed the team and utterly disappointed its owner is also significant and cannot be forgotten. Now the same worthy is eager to join England cricket to work against his own country, Australia, in the crucial Ashes trip later this month.

Buchanan, no doubt, has been a great coach and helped Australia just a few years back, in demolishing England 5-0 in the Ashes series, in 2006-07. Now he must be unhappy with the Australians and is selling his expertise - and also his loyalties - to the higher bidder, I presume. No wonder he has been roundly criticized for his ‘treachery' to Australia.

According to Alex Brown of Cricinfo, "John Buchanan will travel to England this month on a short-term coaching assignment with the ECB, and hopes the stint could lead to a longer consultancy deal. The former Australia coach would not elaborate on whether he intends to divulge information on Australian players on the eve of the eagerly-anticipated Ashes series, but hinted strongly that his loyalties would lie with England should the ECB choose to offer him a longer-term contract."

"It is my own business who I choose to talk to and what I talk about," Buchanan told Cricinfo. "Both myself and the ECB have indicated that in terms of their elite programme I could fulfill a role. I will fly over on June 28, have a good look at the elite programme, and sit down with them to see what potentially lies ahead. This trip will be largely about looking at the coaching programmes, and working with the Under-19s and the [England] Lions team."

"Buchanan's time in England will coincide with the Lions' tour match against the Australians in Worcester from July 1 to 4 - just four days before the first Ashes Test in Cardiff. His presence in the opposition dressing room will come as a jarring sight to many, given his last Test coaching assignment entailed guiding Australia to a 5-0 Ashes triumph in 2006-07. "John is free to do whatever he wants," replied Brett Lee, abruptly, when asked whether he would be disappointed if Buchanan joined the England camp for the Ashes."

"News of Buchanan's short-term England stint will presumably be met with howls of indignation from many sections of the Australian media, which last week accused the former national coach of treachery for holding negotiations with the ECB in an Ashes year. Those flames could be fanned further after Buchanan delivered a veiled swipe at Cricket Australia, his former employers, over their treatment of coaches and support staff."

"I noticed that the new MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) goes a long way to looking after players, which is good, but I am concerned that support staff are being overlooked," he said. "There has obviously been an attempt to keep players from defecting to leagues such as the IPL with moves made to offer them and their families better support. It mustn't be forgotten that the longevity of a team doesn't only depend on players, but also the coaches, trainers and support staff.

"They are the ones who go into a career in cricket with not a lot of guarantees, nor a great deal of support, recognition, remuneration or reward. The IPL has obviously given them another avenue to pursue, which is great, but I would like to think steps were being taken to look after them at international level."

All that is fine, true, and valid, as the boards don't care much about these matters. But is the answer to all that throwing your loyalties for your own country in the oceans and work for getting more money elsewhere?

Until last year, Buchanan was employed by Cricket Australia as a coaching ambassador. He currently runs a Brisbane-based consultancy business, and holds down the high-profile position of Director of Cricket Operations with the Kolkata Knight Riders, the IPL franchise.

Whether he retains the latter role is a matter of media speculation in India, however, with many suggesting that Buchanan could be shown the door following KKR's poor 2009 campaign. "I'm not 100 percent sure where that is placed, but the situation will become clearer in the next week," he said.

Obviously Buchanan knows that after the dismal performance of Kolkata team he would not be welcome to hold that highly paid and highly acclaimed job in India. So why not seek another good paymaster even if he be from the rival camp? So Buchanan, it's Goodbye Australia! Now you love England, at least till some one else offers you much, much more!