NEW DELHI, June 5: England's John Emburey joined Graham Ford of South Africa as the two leading contenders in the race for India's next cricket coach, it was announced on Tuesday.

Emburey, 54, the former England off-spinner and currently director of cricket at Middlesex, was unveiled as the second candidate besides Ford in the fray for the high-profile job.

Both Ford and Emburey will discuss their prospects with the coach selection panel of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Chennai on Saturday.

“The BCCI has invited Graham Ford and John Emburey to come to Chennai and make a presentation after which a final decision on the next coach of Indian team will be made,” a media release from the board said.

Ford, a former South Africa coach who now works with English county Kent, on Monday displaced Dav Whatmore as the frontrunner to replace Greg Chappell as India's coach.

In a statement, Ford said: “I am really enjoying my time at Kent and particularly the team's recent success. The Indian Board has approached me in regard to their vacancy and I am grateful to the club for allowing me the chance to talk to them.”

Emburey, who told AFP in Manchester via a telephone call that he would also be attending Saturday's meeting, said he felt ‘honoured’ to be considered for the post.

“It's one of the biggest jobs in the world game and one of the most difficult. But at this stage of my career, it is a way of moving forward onto the international stage.”

He added: “India are a sleeping giant. With the quality of players they've got and the young players coming through, I'd really like to be a part of their development.”

However, Emburey was anxious to stress that nothing had yet been decided.

“Middlesex have taken the news very well. They see it as a move forward in my career. But it's not a foregone conclusion. There is another candidate and they have said the Middlesex job remains open for me.”

The BCCI officials had over the last week claimed that Whatmore, the former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach, stood a ‘very good chance’ since he was the only person who had shown interest in the Indian job.But Whatmore was sidelined when the selection panel, headed by BCCI president Sharad Pawar and including three former captains in Sunil Gavaskar, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Ravi Shastri, met on Monday night.

“We have decided to invite Ford and another coach of foreign origin for discussions,” the BCCI's influential treasurer N. Srinivasan had told reporters after the meeting.

Media reports said Ford was recommended by India captain Rahul Dravid, a former Kent player who had also persuaded the BCCI to sign up New Zealander John Wright in 2000.

Wright served as India's first foreign coach till 2005 when he was succeeded by Chappell for a two-year term which ended with the World Cup in the Caribbean in April.

Ford, 46, was South Africa's coach between 1999 and 2001 during which the Proteas won nine of their 11 Test and one-day series.

But his term was marred by match-fixing allegations against the then South African captain Hansie Cronje in 2000 which sparked off one of the worst scandals in the sport.

Emburey played 64 Tests for England between 1978 and 1995, claiming 147 wickets at 38.40. He also took part in 61 One-day Internationals where he took 71 wickets.

India hope to have a new coach in place before their tours of Ireland and England starting in the last week of June.—AFP