[EXCLUSIVE] “In England, coaching is very structured, but in Pakistan it’s not”: Azharullah

[Ball Blazer]

In this exclusive interview, Azharullah, one of Yorkshire’s high-performance coaches, shares insights on his role in developing the county’s next generation of fast bowlers. The former first-class cricketer reflects on structural gaps in PCB’s development system, Yorkshire’s cultural transformation, his mission to unlock Asian talent in county cricket — and much more.

Key revelations include:

Azharullah's Career

• He had a 14-year first-class career in Pakistan and England, where he took 383 wickets.
• He played club cricket in North England before joining Northamptonshire, and was part of the T20 blast-winning squad.
• He did not have a conventional path to first-class cricket, as he did not play any under-19 or representational cricket until he was an adult.
• He attributes his success to his resilience and a never-give-up attitude.

Coaching at Yorkshire

• He is a high-performance coach and leads the fast-bowling program for players from age 13 up to the academy level, until they earn professional contracts.
• He also identifies new talent, even as young as 10 and 11 years old.
• When identifying talent, he looks for fundamentals like pace, swing, lateral movement, and bounce.
• He explains that Yorkshire has a culture of deep cricket and a strong network for identifying and nurturing talent. In the last year, over 1,400 kids came for observation, and they create a competitive environment for them.

Comparison of Cricket Systems

• He compares the cricket systems in England and Pakistan, stating that the English system is very structured with a long-term player development program, while the Pakistani system is not.
• In England, they train players through the winter from November to March and have a structured program of fixtures.
• He notes that Pakistan has not invested in long-term player development, coach education, or sports science, and their domestic cricket is not consistent.

Inclusivity at Yorkshire

• He discusses the efforts Yorkshire is making to increase the number of Asian cricketers in their system.
• He has worked to identify why they were missing out on talent from the Asian community and has increased transparency and inclusion.
• He states there has been a 40% increase in kids from the Asian community, with several players, like Jajakas and Yash, being signed.
• He mentions that Yorkshire's new team, led by Darren Gough and Otis Gibson, has made a conscious effort to make the club more inclusive following the Azim Rafiq affair.

Future Plans

• He is currently developing himself by learning about white-ball cricket, data, science, and injury prevention, and is ready to step up to a franchise or a bigger role in county cricket.

Watch full interview with Saj here:

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Under the current PCB set up, there isn't any silver lining too. Just hope Hesson stays a bit long here.

 

[Saj]

Its always interesting to listen to people who have played/coached in both systems - ECB and PCB, and their contrasting thoughts.

The lack of planning, the lack of a proper pathway for young players, the lack of cohesion, the lack of stability.

No wonder we are light years behind other countries in producing young cricketers who are ready for international cricket.

 

[Rafale Nidhal]

Quality standards and Structure is always going to bring results in long term. Something the English cricket is producing and receiving now.

Pakistan cricket used to have quality standards and a proper structure based from domestic cricket which over the years and couple of decades was being destroyed and the end result is what we are seeing now. Everything in decline. Another great example is West Indies.

 

[Technics 1210]

@Thread : Coaching in England was always very structured. Even before the riches of Cricket, the path to international cricket was always the same - you had to perform at grass roots, school, local team, county, then international.

Despite the structure England still performed well below expectation, and the 90s was probably the lowest point in English cricket.

What followed was a masterstroke of management - England management sussed very quickly that teaching (coaching) new techniques to a player who is selected for International duties was indeed a waste of time. Instead the trick was to improve the mindset which in theory would improve performance.

Sports psychology was #1 priority in ECB during the 00s, and the results now show.

It's not always about coaching, if you need coaching at international level then you're not international level to begin with.

Cricket was and always will be a mind-game.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

In Pakistan coaching is not the only issue, infact everything is at sixes and nines and special thanks for that to PCB leadership.

 

[topspin]

Yes and the lack of structure or shall I say non-existent structure in Pakistan cricket is exactly why we've seen someone like Misbah become the Head Coach and Chief Selector even though he had no coaching experience nor any qualifications.