With the Board of Control for Cricket in India finalising the committee to select the Indian team coach, the decision on John Wright's successor is expected later this month.

The short-list of candidates will also be drawn up by the committee. Greg Chappell, Tom Moody, Dean Jones and Dav Whatmore have been talked about as prospective coaches.

According to the BCCI only Dean Jones has submitted his application.

"My resume is with the secretary, Mr S K Nair," Jones told rediff.com from his home in Victoria. "But I haven't been officially approached by the Board because the committee hadn't been formed yet. Now that they have, I am hopeful of a call."

'Wright should have been retained'

The 44-year-old Victorian revealed he also had an offer from Sri Lanka and was more interested in coaching national sides rather than county or state sides.

"There has come a time in my life where I want to start coaching. I am still young and though I am enjoying (television) commentary, I am looking for other battles to fight," he said.

The competition is stiff for Jones, as the men vying for the post are established coaches. Greg Chappell, who has a cricket academy in Australia, is regarded highly while Whatmore has Sri Lanka's emphatic rise in world cricket in the mid-1990s and recent success with Bangladesh as advertisements for himself.

Tom Moody is currently Director of Cricket at the English county club Worcestershire.

"I am a qualified level four coach in Australia. It is up to the Indian Board to decide whether they are interested in me," 'Deano' said.

"I have captained Australia and have worked with a few teams. I think I can bring a brand of exciting cricket in India," said the man who famously scored a double ton in the 1986 tied Test at Chennai. "A lot of hard work needs to be done with this Indian team, and I can do it."

Jones said he had not spoken with former colleagues and co-commentators Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar who are also on the selection panel.

"I've been on the road for the last few weeks," he said, "so I haven't really been in touch with them."