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Julien Fountain was the best fielding coach we ever had

Slog

Slog

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Throughout my years of following cricket, Pakistan has hired a multitude of big name fielding coaches from Jonty Rhodes to the current Steve Rixon.

However honestly there in only ONE fielding coach under whom I feel we made significant tangible progress.

Its Julian Fountain! Under him there was actual improvement which you can see.

Can he be brought back? I have no idea what Rixon is doing but it seems to be getting worse every series where we are making schoolboy mistakes!
 
To be honest the last few games it felt like Pakistan just wanted to go home already which is why there were so many basic errors.

Yesterdays match was particularly bad, between the two sides only five players came across as putting in an actual effort.
 
Slog said:
thats the problem

we have been trying to improve it for 5 years
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And Julien was also part of the 5 years so in theory Rixon should have inherited a class fielding unit.

At the end of the day, it is not down to Julien or Rixon - they cannot field for the players.

This is why I suggested an intense fielding camp and that is exactly what Mickey mentioned in his presser last night.
 
:))
Our players become suddenly more athletic under Fountain?

Fielding has been the same in Pakistan, its not down to a coach, but its down to your athletic ability.
 
Pick a team with good fielding and you'll have good fielding. Our current team has many bad fielders and unfit players so what do people expect?
 
the blame is shared between players and coaches. fielding is all about fitness and practice. our players arent fit enough to be consistently good in fielding but the drills Steve rixon is running are atrocious, they showed a clip of the players running around like idiots in circle; how is that fielding?? we need to practice game like scenarios.. come on...
 
I know I sound like a broken record in every thread...

A fielding coach at international level should be bringing in new techniques for training and honing the players skills not teaching them how to field from scratch :(

This should be learned at Domestic Level and it clearly isn't.

Also, If Julian Fountain "made" them better fielders then surely it is up to the individual player to maintain those standards?

Everything stems from the first class system and any improvement made by coaches at International Level are eroded due to what I can only assume is a problem with the players mentality...
 
Julian I am sure is a fantastic Coach but fielding drills and tactics should have been passed down from Seniors to Juniors.

Half of the players existed and learned under Julian and they are not setting the world on fire.

At International level you cannot teach basics to Players and its clear that some of these players lack Basics.

The cry of the hour is to ensure that lower level Coaches ensure that basic skills are taught at Junior level otherwise we will be discussing the same things 5-10 years from now.

Change needs to happen at U16 and U19 level
 
Back in 2012, Julien had tweeted that you can only lead a horse to water, but you cannot force it to drink, and he wondered whether "thirsty horses" are needed.

It was clear from his tweet that the lack of interest and effort by the players is the most significant stumbling block. If the players are not committed to fielding, I doubt that any coach, including Steve Rixon, can make a difference.
 
I agree with the OP, JF did a good job with the team during his tenure and fielding did improve (it was certainly than the horror shows currently being displayed by the team in recent series).
 
Slog said:
Throughout my years of following cricket, Pakistan has hired a multitude of big name fielding coaches from Jonty Rhodes to the current Steve Rixon.

However honestly there in only ONE fielding coach under whom I feel we made significant tangible progress.

Its Julian Fountain! Under him there was actual improvement which you can see.

Can he be brought back? I have no idea what Rixon is doing but it seems to be getting worse every series where we are making schoolboy mistakes!
Click to expand...


I agree 100 %
 
I dont understand. If we were that great a fielding side then we should have needed very little to continue in that direction. Rixon should by now be accused of sitting and sipping tea. What we have seen and heard from all is that Rixon has worked very hard with Pak cricketers; The catches are dropped by fielders not Rixon.
 
MenInG said:
I dont understand. If we were that great a fielding side then we should have needed very little to continue in that direction. Rixon should by now be accused of sitting and sipping tea. What we have seen and heard from all is that Rixon has worked very hard with Pak cricketers; The catches are dropped by fielders not Rixon.
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The bolded statement can be used to justify the performance of any coach. Coaches are to be judged by what players do on the field.
 
Stallion__ said:
The bolded statement can be used to justify the performance of any coach. Coaches are to be judged by what players do on the field.
Click to expand...

Coaches have to be around for a good number of years before anything happens.
 
Major said:
:))
Our players become suddenly more athletic under Fountain?

Fielding has been the same in Pakistan, its not down to a coach, but its down to your athletic ability.
Click to expand...

No doubt Athletic ability helps and without it you can never become a great fielder but the single biggest variable to improvement is attitude and the desire to improve. Coaches can show you the techniques but the onus is on the players to spend time practicing.
 
MenInG said:
I dont understand. If we were that great a fielding side then we should have needed very little to continue in that direction. Rixon should by now be accused of sitting and sipping tea. What we have seen and heard from all is that Rixon has worked very hard with Pak cricketers; The catches are dropped by fielders not Rixon.
Click to expand...

Rixon is a very hard task master, and if the players are not improving, then its an attitude problem.
 
Pakistan need to involve coaches at grass root levels.

No one can make sharjeel pointing . They are making some fundamental errors , lower level has to be addressed.
 
Wonder if Julien could be back soon with PCB?
 
Scrolling up in this thread, what are the thoughts on Rixon’s performance? He gave us Shadab, Imam, and Babar
 
Loved Steve Rixon's style of coaching. Very strict and worked well with Mickey.
 
TeymurBlake said:
Absolutely. Its the tough style our players needed and still need.
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I saw him with a couple of players at the team hotel during Champions Trophy 2017. He was laying into the players over a cup of coffee. The players looked scared :)
 
As I have written on here before my son was part of age county setups and his fielding was below average, his club coach worked really hard with him and others and his fielding improved but the other half of that equation was that he wanted to improve and showed a passion for improvement. You cannot improve your fielding until you want to and the coach should be the facilitator and moving from one coach to another should make negligible difference. If a player gets to the higher level as a poor fielder, the chances of him improving much is very small.
 
Saj said:
I saw him with a couple of players at the team hotel during Champions Trophy 2017. He was laying into the players over a cup of coffee. The players looked scared :)
Click to expand...

So it's not the coaching that works, it's the old fashion "hair dryer treatment".
 
Bewal Express said:
So it's not the coaching that works, it's the old fashion "hair dryer treatment".
Click to expand...

The problem with the hair dryer treatment is that it starts losing its effect after some time. It's better to movitate the players conventionally through positive reinforcement.

But, at the end of the day, it has to come directly from the players in wanting to improve and be better fielders.
 
KingOfPakBreakfast said:
The problem with the hair dryer treatment is that it starts losing its effect after some time. It's better to movitate the players conventionally through positive reinforcement.

But, at the end of the day, it has to come directly from the players in wanting to improve and be better fielders.
Click to expand...

Good call.
 
Fountain was okay but Rixon was the best. Dumb PCB admin let him go like total fools.
 
Slim said:
Fountain was okay but Rixon was the best. Dumb PCB admin let him go like total fools.
Click to expand...

He walked away.

He'd had enough of late payments from the PCB.
 
A very gracious Julien when asked about Pakistan's new fielding coach for the England tour:


"Majeed is one of the few local coaches I would recommend for this role. He's definitely a good fit if they're going local; I saw him in South Africa, with U19 in World Cup and was impressed"
 
Saj said:
He walked away.

He'd had enough of late payments from the PCB.
Click to expand...

It was more than that apparently, he was not happy with the slow internet connection at the NCA either
 
Pakistan fielding to suffer, coach steps down

Due to differences with the PCB, fielding coach Steve Rixon has decided to step down.

Pakistan Fielding Coach Steve Rixon has decided to step down as he is apparently unhappy with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Pakistan's upcoming two T20 Internationals (T20Is) against Scotland next week will be his last assignment with the side.

The differences between Rixon and PCB, in fact, have grown to such an extent that ahead of the second Test against England at Leeds last week, Rixon had even refused to come to the ground for a practice session.

According to a report in the Jang newspaper, the heat between Rixon and the national board went from bad to worse following repeated small complaints from the former Australian Test wicketkeeper.

Rixon, who joined Pakistan's support staff two years back when Mickey Arthur took over as head coach, has several complaints like not being given proper residence in Lahore, slow internet connections at the academy, not getting the due protocol and delay in his monthly salary payment.

Rixon reportedly refused to come for the Leeds Test training because of a delay in his salary of USD 8000 dollars being transferred to his account and that even surprised Arthur and manager, Talat Ali. Although the next day he came to the ground following the transfer of money into his account, Rixon remained unhappy and grumpy throughout the training time.

Apparently, the PCB wanted to extend Rixon's contract as it was ending this year and had even assured him a 10 per cent raise in his salary. However, when Rixon made some sarcastic comments during discussions on contract, the PCB also became reluctant.

In the meantime, Rixon received a better offer from a franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The report said soon after getting the IPL offer Rixon used personal and family commitments as an excuse to leave the job and not seek an extension.

"He has decided to leave because he (Rixon) was not happy and the PCB is now negotiating with another Australian, Darren Berry to take over as the new fielding coach," the report said.

Link: https://www.dnaindia.com/cricket/report-steve-rixon-to-step-down-due-to-differences-with-pcb-2622920

Comments: This is what was reported at the time
 
Savak said:
It was more than that apparently, he was not happy with the slow internet connection at the NCA either
Click to expand...

The main reason was delays in receiving his salary.

Maybe PCB thought he would work for free.

Rixon reportedly refused to come for the Leeds Test training because of a delay in his salary of USD 8000 dollars being transferred to his account and that even surprised Arthur and manager, Talat Ali. Although the next day he came to the ground following the transfer of money into his account, Rixon remained unhappy and grumpy throughout the training time.
Click to expand...
 
Pak's fielding under the Arthur-Rixon era was the best ever. We hardly dropped catches and ground fielding was amazing.
 
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