Is it time for Pakistan to get a foreign bowling coach?

[Giannis]

I know Pakistanis take huge pride in our fast bowling legacy and we have a long line of great bowlers through our history so it's almost unfathomable for a Pakistani to even think of hiring a foreign bowling coach, for whatever reason we always have this false sense of belief that we still have the most talented bowling attack in the world and that we're entitled to have naturally better bowlers than India, so it hurts our ego but I think it's time for Pakistan to swallow its pride and hire a pace bowling coach from overseas preferably Australia or South Africa.

I think Pakistan should be open to learning the ways of the fast bowlers in those countries, perhaps a convergence of local talent and western bowling methods could create something really potent Pakistan have cycled through Waqar Younis, Mohamad Akram and Aqib Javed alongwit occasional camps by Waseem Akram, maybe it's time for Troy Cooley, Alan Donald, Jason Gillespie or even Courtney Walsh. England and Australia have never shied away from hiring Asian spin experts so no reason for Pakistan not to experiment.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

The above are good names, we should look into Ian Pont too. He understands the technical side of coaching - would be valuable for the likes of of Naseem, Rauf, and he’s coached Quetta Gladiators too in the past so has experience with subcontinental players.

He would also be a good look in for our National High Performance Center or our U19 and Shaheens teams.

 

[Markhor]

I strongly agree. Our former greats are hired purely on name recognition than any coaching skills whatsoever.

They command respect simply because of who they are - but how many can actually sit down and develop opposition plans, explain the biomechanics of a bowler's action and understand the innovations of the modern game ?

Our homegrown coaching capacity is abysmal barring some names and it's only now PCB are overhauling the system. Hopefully this'll bear fruit in long run but for now, we should look overseas.

 

[TheSultan]

Personally, I think a foreign coach will be able to drill in to the Pakistan fast bowling legacy of pace, swing and reverse swing better than our domestic bowling coaches.

Pakistani bowling coaches seem to have some sort of complex about our past legacy. It almost seems that unless they say “pace does not matter”, “you have to bowl vicket to vicket” they will not get paid. Or they fear they will be thought as jahil and just stuck in the past. There’s a lot of confusion.

The likes of Troy Cooley and David Saker embraced Pakistan’s previous style of pace and reverse swing and incorporated that in to their bowling attack. That’s not the only thing they had, but they realised it can’t be ignored.

Our domestic coaches feel that they are above that for some reason

 

[Savak]

Troy Cooley is credited for creating the English Ashes 2005 attack where all the bowlers were excellent with the new ball and destroyed Australia with reverse swing later on. These are the skills our bowlers need.

 

[Giannis]

Glenn McGrath, Shane Bond, Ian Bishop and Shaun Pollock are a few other names that come to mind. Whoever gets hire should be given at least a 2 year run, criticisms from former Pakistani "legends" should be ignored.

 

[NoBallZombie]

I was a critic of Azhar when he was the bowling coach, but the work Waqar has done with this group, I feel Azhar was a much better investment. I was going through the Hasan Ali interview and he mentioned somewhere that Azhar had worked on slight adjustments which made a lot of sense. I am still to hear any of that sort of feedback regarding Waqar...

 

[Savak]

I was a critic of Azhar when he was the bowling coach, but the work Waqar has done with this group, I feel Azhar was a much better investment. I was going through the Hasan Ali interview and he mentioned somewhere that Azhar had worked on slight adjustments which made a lot of sense. I am still to hear any of that sort of feedback regarding Waqar...

Bowlers were definitely a lot better under Azhar Mahmood. Hasan Ali improved under his watch. Shaheen Afridi was getting better with him. Abbas had his purple patch under him. Skill wise in England in the 2017 CT barring that game against India, Pakistani bowlers looked in red hot form. Under Waqar we have conceeded 500 plus on 5-6 occasions.

 

[silent ischemia]

Wish Asif was available

 

[Giannis]

Wish Asif was available

I was a critic of Azhar when he was the bowling coach, but the work Waqar has done with this group, I feel Azhar was a much better investment. I was going through the Hasan Ali interview and he mentioned somewhere that Azhar had worked on slight adjustments which made a lot of sense. I am still to hear any of that sort of feedback regarding Waqar...

I wouldn't hire Asif or Azhar Mahmood, the latter already had his shot. Pakistan should just for foreign coach, Troy Cooley as the bowling coach with Andy Flower as the head coach could really take Pakistan to the next level.

 

[lahoriyah1234]

How about Our Badmaash and Talking Machine Shaoib Actor. Dalaaar bande lao bhai.

 

[NoBallZombie]

How about Our Badmaash and Talking Machine Shaoib Actor. Dalaaar bande lao bhai.

On one of that cringeworthy ptv shows, shoaib was talking once about how to get the guys to bowl fast ... And he was basically saying that a person should move his arm so they are trying to hold on to air in front of them or something.... didn’t make an iota of sense....

I think he would be good at giving the guys a beating I’d they don’t perform so it may not be a bad idea. I loved it when he kicked kamran after the latter dropped Ross Taylor in the World Cup matches and then he went off to score a century.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Gillespie is probably the best bowling coach in the world at the moment but Pak offer won't really entice him.

Should be looking to get Craig Mcdermott, Ali de Winter, Heath Streak, Charl Langeveldt or Kyle Mills.

 

[hitthestump]

Troy Cooley is credited for creating the English Ashes 2005 attack where all the bowlers were excellent with the new ball and destroyed Australia with reverse swing later on. These are the skills our bowlers need.

I heard somewhere that Wasim was responsible for teaching Flintoff reverse swing at Lancashire while Simon Jones learnt it from Waqar at Warwickshire.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

I heard somewhere that Wasim was responsible for teaching Flintoff reverse swing at Lancashire while Simon Jones learnt it from Waqar at Warwickshire.

Well known story. It’s true. Wasim had a big role in Flintoff’s development.

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

On one of that cringeworthy ptv shows, shoaib was talking once about how to get the guys to bowl fast ... And he was basically saying that a person should move his arm so they are trying to hold on to air in front of them or something.... didn’t make an iota of sense....

I think he would be good at giving the guys a beating I’d they don’t perform so it may not be a bad idea. I loved it when he kicked kamran after the latter dropped Ross Taylor in the World Cup matches and then he went off to score a century.

He was talking about pulling the non-bowling arm and using it to catapult the bowling arm to ensure greater arm speed.

This is a well known coaching trigger method.

Some people use the analagy of pulling the sight screen behind the batsman, others use the concept of pulling the batsman towards you, so him using the concept of pulling the air, is by no means, wrong as it is a mental trigger that worked well for him.

Dont let his loose cannon personality fool you, because contrary to whatever you have said, Shoaib actually understands biomechanics, technicalities of fast bowling as well as modern training methods much better than anyone in Pakistan.

A glance at his own playing career sheds light on that, particularly on how he personally hired a javelin coach, to increase his arm speed to breach the 100mph.
His training methods were totally different to what the others did. He used a lot of resistance training and adapted it into his bowling practice as well by using heavier balls, or runnimg with a parachute on his back.
He was way ahead of his time in that sense.

The transformation of his action between 1998 to 2006 where he changed from having a completely side-on action with a lot of technical errors to a very economical semi-front on action also points to the fact that he knew what he was doing.

 

[Mamoon]

Maybe we should get foreign bowlers as well, because the current lot minus Shaheen have no talent.

When you do not have the prerequisite ability to excel at the top level against the big teams, no amount of coaching will help you. Shan Masood is a prime example.

You can hire the best bowling coach in the world, but no coach can inject ability into these mediocre bowlers and nor can they improve their intelligence.

These bowlers have no talent and they also do not have the intelligence to be able to execute their plans in the moment.

 

[Savak]

He was talking about pulling the non-bowling arm and using it to catapult the bowling arm to ensure greater arm speed.

This is a well known coaching trigger method.

Some people use the analagy of pulling the sight screen behind the batsman, others use the concept of pulling the batsman towards you, so him using the concept of pulling the air, is by no means, wrong as it is a mental trigger that worked well for him.

Dont let his loose cannon personality fool you, because contrary to whatever you have said, Shoaib actually understands biomechanics, technicalities of fast bowling as well as modern training methods much better than anyone in Pakistan.

A glance at his own playing career sheds light on that, particularly on how he personally hired a javelin coach, to increase his arm speed to breach the 100mph.
His training methods were totally different to what the others did. He used a lot of resistance training and adapted it into his bowling practice as well by using heavier balls, or runnimg with a parachute on his back.
He was way ahead of his time in that sense.

The transformation of his action between 1998 to 2006 where he changed from having a completely side-on action with a lot of technical errors to a very economical semi-front on action also points to the fact that he knew what he was doing.

Even the Australians have embraced Sports Medicine and Science. Look at the numerous speedy bowlers Australians are able to produce. Starc started off his career as a 136 km/hr bowler but he has been able to ramp it up to 144-149 km/hr and he can sustain those speeds for a good 25-30 overs because of the strength, conditioning, gym work he does and Cricket Australia also to monitor his workload by ensuring he rests from dead rubbers, inconsequential matches, dead rubbers, minnow teams, IPL.

 

[Savak]

Shami credited Akhtar's tips for his increase in pace. Akhtar understands how to increase pace unlike D Waqar whose only solution is run, run, run, bowl, bowl, bowl all day long.