Woolmer wants to replace Fletcher as England coach

London, Jan 22 (UNI) Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has expressed interest to coach England after his contract with Pakistan ends in June after the cricket World Cup in West Indies.

''I will be open to offers after the World Cup,'' Woolmer said.

''I would be foolish not to be. I have always been proud of playing for England and just missed out on coaching them as the timing was not right. I was part of a side that beat Australia as a player and have a yearning to do so as a coach,'' Woolmer was qouted as saying to 'The Times'.

''I have not been as well paid as other international coaches.

Coaching is my life, it is what I do best and I am keeping fit through hitting catches and walking for 45 minutes every day, and swimming 1,200 metres every other day.

''I always wonder what would have happened had I not signed up for World Series Cricket in 1977 or turned down the possibility of coaching England, but I don't regret what I have done with my life,'' Woolmer, who was approached by the ECB to become England coach ahead of Duncan Fletcher eight years ago, said.

Dennis Amiss, his close friend and former colleague who now chairs ECB's cricket committee, is visiting Cape Town, where Woolmer lives, next month.

Though acknowledging that Fletcher was a great coach, Woolmer said he would be different from the England coach.

''My approach is slightly different to that of Duncan Fletcher in that I tend to intervene more in technical issues with players, management and other people than he does. Coaches have a short shelf life, so they need to get the job done as quickly as possible,'' he said.

UNI