Calcutta, Nov. 28 :    Calcutta, Nov. 28:  As Board president, Raj Singh Dungarpur took the initiative to appoint Bobby Simpson as consultant. That was in early 1998, and a welcome break with tradition. It's another matter that Simpson didn't quite have the impact most expected. More recently, of course, Raj Singh had a big role in the appointment of John Wright as Indian cricket's first overseas coach. Now, the venerable chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) is headed for Australia - to 'study' the cricket structure, with a view to make Indian cricket 'a mirror' of things Australian. The trip has Board president A.C. Muthiah's endorsement. Speaking to The Telegraph this morning, soon after arriving for tomorrow's Board meeting, Raj Singh said he would interact with the 1999 World Cup-winning coach Geoff Marsh at his first port of call - Perth. Marsh, it is understood, will 'brief' Raj Singh on Australia's world-beating structure besides, possibly, offering his own thoughts on what can done in India. Raj Singh revealed that Marsh, who was a contender for the national coach's job, was the consultant-designate to the Board. There's every possibility, then, Marsh may soon make another trip to India, this time in an official capacity. From Perth, Raj Singh will head for Adelaide and the Academy there, before moving to Melbourne for a meeting with Australian Cricket Board mandarins. His last-stop will be Sydney. 'It's never too late to learn, both where individuals and institutions are concerned... Australia's has been a huge success story and, we in India, can revamp our structure based on the Australian model,' Raj Singh remarked. He added: 'Indeed, the winds of change are bound to hit our Board. Sadly, in management, we are 25 years behind even Pakistan and Sri Lanka... The present Board president is trying to introduce corporate governance and I wish everybody supports him.' The obvious question is: Why didn't he himself effect changes, in the structure, during the three years that he was Board president? Raj Singh, refreshingly, didn't offer excuses. He candidly accepted he had been a 'failure,' quickly adding: 'My predecessors, too, failed.' This won't go down very well with a lot of people, but Raj Singh didn't have second thoughts after saying what he did. In fact, Raj Singh continued in much the same vein: 'One isn't around to please others... And, let me add former cricketers have been resentful of the Board's coach-specific move. Some may even be critical of Marsh... 'From my side, though, I have one question: Just how much has been the post-retirement contribution of the many so-called pundits who are either TV commentators or columnists? Negligible, I would say, and they must introspect.' Well, somebody or the other, is bound to react... Raj Singh, who believes 'generating funds (alone) isn't cricket, generating talent is' is understandably delighted with the coming good of NCA lad Shiv Sundar Das. It's no surprise that he backs Reetinder Singh Sodhi (included for the up-coming first three one-dayers) as a winner, too.