Aussie youngsters are keener learners than our own boys
I have just finished a stint of coaching the Australian Cricket Board's junior players at Chennai for the second year in a row
EAS Prasanna
25-Apr-2001
I have just finished a stint of coaching the Australian Cricket
Board's junior players at Chennai for the second year in a row. This
has become an annual feature for the ACB to expose their Academy wards
to some expert guidance. One has to experience it to believe the
forward planning of Australian cricket.
Before I touch upon how the coaching went off, I must say the Indian
Board has shown tremendous imagination under the present Board
President AC Muthiah and Raj Singh the Chairman of the National
Cricket Academy. These two administrators have extended the wings of
the NCA by having zonal centres. This is an excellent move. The five
zonal academies will now give mofussil players in their respective
regions access to quality infrastructure. Cricket as we all know is
the most popular game in this country. Most parents these days want
their sons and daughters to don the Indian colours and the sight at
various cricket camps is actual proof of that.
I was lucky enough to be involved with the NCA last summer as a
consultant. The Board's step of setting up the Academy is an open
platform for aspirants and the results of the effort are there for
everyone to see, with five trainees taking part against Australia in
the recent series. I have noticed that the NCA has a plan based on the
ACB's own Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy which means it is not too
far fetched a dream that the Indian team will be as successful as the
Aussies in the near future.
Here I must mention my experiences of interacting with the junior
Australians who went through a camp for two weeks under Bishen and me.
They had been briefed well about their visit to Chennai. They were
told about whom they would be interacting with and the respect that
coaches enjoy in cricketing circles here. Above all they had read many
articles by Australian as well as English critics. Their
inquisitiveness was amazing. They didn't have any inhibitions about
the type of question they asked. At times it looked ridiculous but
they were not shy. They wanted to learn and had realised the ACB had
invested on them so that in a year or two they would be playing for
Australia.
To quote an example we advised one of the left arm spinners to bowl
round the wicket to a right hander to get the advantage of the ball
drifting in and leaving the bat. The boys realised the advantage but
to get the doubt cleared they asked me, "Do you go round to a left
handed batsman"? Even though I was foxed for a couple of seconds I
appreciated their logic but told them that unless the off spinner can
take the ball across the stumps, the lefthander will get the ball away
with the meat of his bat. Also by going over the wicket to a
lefthander I can make use of the batsman's blind spot when his eye,
elbow and the pitch of the ball are all in line. That's why I always
preferred to bowl over the wicket even to a lefthander. However if the
wicket is responsive and the ball is turning I would put in a request
to bowl round the stumps. This illustration is only to show how keen
their interaction was. On the other hand I find the Indian boys more
reserved and whenever I stood next to an off spinner at the nets they
wouldn't even like to talk to us. The same sort of initiative to learn
is not there on our side.
When the youngsters have been provided such a fine platform, their
progress depends on how effectively they interact with the coaches and
make use of the available expertise. If they are not convinced on any
point they must request coaches to demonstrate what they say. The boys
must put their heart and soul into the effort to graduate as confident
and thinking cricketers. The Board is doing everything to upgrade the
profile of this glorious game all over the country so that it will
continue to thrive and throw up many competitive players. We are all
here to learn more and give back something to this game. After all no
one is greater than the game itself.