Australia hired a power-hitting coach for the Champions Trophy - Pakistan needs one too

[Citizen4]

Julian Wood, the former Hampshire batsman who is now a power-hitting coach, has been recruited by Australia to help with preparations for the Champions Trophy in England and Wales in June.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/australia-hire-english-power-hitting-coach-zw6vjk0xp

Pakistan should hire someone similar as well, to help players get better at hitting. Power hitting is the requirement of the modern game, and Pakistan is far behind in that department right now.

 

[anakwalajinn]

A bit ironic that the players who are brought up playing tape ball cricket requires coaching in power hitting...

 

[Syed1]

Well if you listen to some PP experts we already have the best power hitter in Kami opening the batting.

 

[Mamoon]

Yes, and make him work with Fawad Alam.

 

[Hamza_]

Yes, and make him work with Fawad Alam.

Lol. This made my day

 

[Mamoon]

Australian batsmen are already great when it comes to ball striking. Hiring a coach a couple of months prior to the Champions Trophy might give the likes of Warner, Finch, Maxwell etc. an edge. On the other hand, our batsmen are dreadful when it comes to hitting, so hiring a coach will not teach these old dogs new tricks in a matter of two months.

If I recall correctly, we roped in a specialist batting coach for the 2013 Champions Trophy as well, which obviously didn't help much because Indian, South African and West Indian still pulled down their trousers.

Hence, the bottom line is that it will make no difference at all, especially not in such a short time span. Nonetheless, the likes of Sarfraz, Hafeez & Malik lost their learning curve about a decade ago. They can never become power hitters now, but the likes of Babar & Shehzad can, so it's a good long-term plan. Hiring a baseball coach in 2015 has helped England, who have the most explosive batting unit in Limited Overs at the moment.

 

[Markhor]

PCB need to think outside the box for once.

Powerhitting is a technique in itself. Julian Wood spent some time with the Texas Rangers and has encouraged batsmen to take cues from baseball - through adjusting their grip and stance.

Wood also worked for both England and England Lions and a made a real difference according to the players.

 

[Citizen4]

Australian batsmen are already great when it comes to ball striking. Hiring a coach a couple of months prior to the Champions Trophy might give the likes of Warner, Finch, Maxwell etc. an edge. On the other hand, our batsmen are dreadful when it comes to hitting, so hiring a coach will not teach these old dogs new tricks in a matter of two months.

If I recall correctly, we roped in a specialist batting coach for the 2013 Champions Trophy as well, which obviously didn't help much because Indian, South African and West Indian still pulled down their trousers.

Hence, the bottom line is that it will make no difference at all, especially not in such a short time span. Nonetheless, the likes of Sarfraz, Hafeez & Malik lost their learning curve about a decade ago. They can never become power hitters now, but the likes of Babar & Shehzad can, so it's a good long-term plan. Hiring a baseball coach in 2015 has helped England, who have the most explosive batting unit in Limited Overs at the moment.

even if that hitting coach manages to make Babar, Shehzad and Fakhar better at power hitting, it will be pretty handy. Shadab, Imad, Amir and Hasan can be trained as well for hitting in the death overs. It wil be a huge bonus.

 

[Mamoon]

even if that hitting coach manages to make Babar, Shehzad and Fakhar better at power hitting, it will be pretty handy. Shadab, Imad, Amir and Hasan can be trained as well for hitting in the death overs. It wil be a huge bonus.

He can't in two months.

 

[Citizen4]

He can't in two months.

but he can bring a change in like 6 or so months

 

[Hamza_]

even if that hitting coach manages to make Babar, Shehzad and Fakhar better at power hitting, it will be pretty handy. Shadab, Imad, Amir and Hasan can be trained as well for hitting in the death overs. It wil be a huge bonus.

Fakhar isn't the player. He bats with crouched stance, We need to pick guys from domestic cricket or U19 and then work over their power hitting skills.

 

[Syed1]

PCB need to think outside the box for once.

Powerhitting is a technique in itself. Julian Wood spent some time with the Texas Rangers and has encouraged batsmen to take cues from baseball - through adjusting their grip and stance.

Wood also worked for both England and England Lions and a made a real difference according to the players.

Right now PCB aren't even thinking in the box and you want them to think outside of it lol


They are playing Shehzad, Kami, Hafeez and Malik in the top six. Anything more needs to be said? Malik atleast can whack a few when the required, the rest can only bat at a SR of 90 to 100 max on a perfect day when the stars align and the sun is shining.

 

[Hawkeye]

You can't make Sarfraz, Malik, Fawad Alam, Rizwan, Saad Nasim, Shehzad suddenly hit the ball.

They cannot.

Never have since their childhood. You can only work with dynamic players like Babar Azam, Haris Sohail.

 

[Mamoon]

but he can bring a change in like 6 or so months

Yes. It will make a difference in the long run provided that our young players work hard.

 

[troodon]

Outside of Malik, I don't think there is anyone who can hit big sixes in this Pakistani team. Even Malik is not a basher. He takes his time before he can unleash the big hits.

 

[Big Mac]

Modern batsmen spend time on power hitting drills in domestic cricket and as part of the various T20 leagues already. Just because you read a press release or news story about the Aussies hiring one doesn't mean that other countries, Pakistan included, don't practice it.

 

[yasir]

Outside of Malik, I don't think there is anyone who can hit big sixes in this Pakistani team. Even Malik is not a basher. He takes his time before he can unleash the big hits.

Malik and sixes, really?? - He can only hit sixes against spinners, he is completely dud against pace, anything above 130, he is as useless as Hafeez, Sarfraz and the whole senior(Misbah, YK, Azhar, Shafiq, Fawad and everybody else in that generation) Battalion


Some how Malik is way too overrated in PP, he is of no use in tournaments, because when we play SA/ENG/NZ/AUS, they all play atleast 2 140/145+ bowlers, that shutdown half of the Pakistan lineup, not to mention no power at tail end of the game...We have not found solution to this problem since Razaq and Afridi length almost a decade ago...

 

[WC-Passion]

We should do it and they can definitely help the younger players if they work with them for a year. There is no hope for the accumulating seniors though.

 

[yasir]

PCB need to think outside the box for once.

Powerhitting is a technique in itself. Julian Wood spent some time with the Texas Rangers and has encouraged batsmen to take cues from baseball - through adjusting their grip and stance.

Wood also worked for both England and England Lions and a made a real difference according to the players.

Forget about bringing power hitting coach, atleast promote Immad/Shadab in power plays few times to have them freedom to play shots, overtime they will develop better power players and this requires no money or substantial risk...Pinch hitter was the thing for us back in 90s/early 00s, we were the one who send down Razaq/Afridi all the time, as a matter of fact that's how Razaq become such a powerful hitter...

We need to have power Athlete culture before we can really have better hitters. Core of our players is mostly very poor, it has to be very strong and flexible, then you can build many things on top of that, better fielder, better hitters, fast bowlers etc...At U15/U19 level fitness and Atheletism has to be key focus, once you have good plumbing, you can build anything on top of it....This is where AUS/NZ/SA players excel and adopt better...

At the same time power hitting coach can make few guys Wahab, Amir, Shadab, Hasan, Immad (who are better Athlete) into much better hitter within a year or so, if they focus on that task... This is sort of must for our LOI revival...

 

[Fahdi]

Hiring baseball coaches to teach power hitting is a good idea for academies and junior teams(under 19 and A-teams). Baseball drills are centered around increasing bat speed to hit balls coming at 95+ mph out of the park. But baseball is a different ball game altogether and there is a need to build a base before such drills may be useful. As people have rightly pointed out most of our players don't have the right base to benefit from such coaching. Guys like Babar Azam have the balance and reflexes to benefit from the coaching to an extent but it will be truly beneficial when imparted to up and coming youngsters.

 

[DRsohail]

Yes, and make him work with Fawad Alam.

azhar ali and MOHAMMAD HAZFEZZ THE BEST YOUngsters we have..

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Issue is that a coach like that would have to remake most of our current players.

For all of the hate that Hammad gets at least he has the technique to hit big, holds the bat up high, clears his front leg.

It's incredibly simple but how many of ours players do that ? Forget about Fawad, most get into positions or grips where it's physically impossible to free ones arms

 

[in_cutter]

We need a magic wand. Lets hire Harry Potter.

 

[in_cutter]

What you need to understand is that Aus already have power hitters..Pakistan do not. Their power hitting coach will fine tune them.

 

[Hawkeye]

Malik and sixes, really?? - He can only hit sixes against spinners, he is completely dud against pace, anything above 130, he is as useless as Hafeez, Sarfraz and the whole senior(Misbah, YK, Azhar, Shafiq, Fawad and everybody else in that generation) Battalion


Some how Malik is way too overrated in PP, he is of no use in tournaments, because when we play SA/ENG/NZ/AUS, they all play atleast 2 140/145+ bowlers, that shutdown half of the Pakistan lineup, not to mention no power at tail end of the game...We have not found solution to this problem since Razaq and Afridi length almost a decade ago...

Pak fans have accepted the minnow mentality.

Malik is one of the most mediocre ones, yet they consider him their savior and hitter.

 

[Speedster777]

And we have recalled TTFs hafeez , malik and kamran to prepare for CT2017

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Power hitting is only possible if players are willing to take risks. Most of the pakistani batsman first care about securing their place in the team for the next series then take risks after getting to 50 or 90.

 

[Sherlock]

This is why Australia are such a innovative Country in-regards to trying new, or unconventional ideas.

Weren't they also the first sides to hire a baseball manager as their fielding coach?

There's a reason why I respect what they've done in Cricket, and continue to do so too.