Coaching blues

By Rajadhyax

Coaching and coaches are a big issue in cricket. From a basic level when a nine year old kid wants to join the game to national teams that play in the ICC calendar, it’s an issue that whips up many interesting questions. Is coaching important at the basic, entry level in the game? Do international cricket stars also need to be coached? What constitutes good coaching? Should a coach be a previous Test cricketer? Are all coaches reliable? Does coaching restrict natural instinct and flair? Should a national team have a domestic coach or a foreign coach? And so on and so forth….its a very long list.

Let’s deal with some of these issues. Coaching is essential at the entry level of the game simply because it introduces a child to rules, regulations and technical aspects of the game. A good coach will put his wards through the right drills and indicate the dos and don’ts of the game at that early age. A player straying into bad habits is a possibility that can be avoided this way. Having said that, even coaches must remember to provide enough leverage to a naturally talented youngster by not interfering too much in natural instincts as a player. Excess interference and insistence of ‘following the book’ will never produce cricketers like Virendra Sehwag and can hamper performance at any stage in a player’s career (as former spinner Maninder Singh found out to his dismay).

Indian domestic coaches like Ramakant Achrekar (famous ward: Sachin Tendulkar) or Deshaprem Azhad (famous ward: Kapil Dev), strictly adhere to such practices. At the same time coaches must develop their unique style in which to impress the kids and supply good ammunition to succeed in match play. They must introduce a sense of discipline to canalise the energies of the kids. Coaches like the late Kamal Bhandarkar (famous ward: Sunil Gavaskar) or MRF Pace Academy mentor T.A. Shekher have achieved that exact balance.

To silence a well worn belief, it is not necessary for a good coach to have played at international level. International exposure is an added bonus but not an absolute necessity to become a reliable coach. Of course, he should have played at a reasonable domestic level to have experienced the various layers of the game. Having played at a reasonable level in active life also gives a coach a keen sense of strategy and an eye for scouting the most promising talent in his view. But it’s not necessary that every coach will have all such abilities. So, one implies that all coaches may not be reliable and parents need to be ultra-careful before enrolling their children in an academy for cricket.

Good coaching includes a lot of things. Basically, it includes imparting of excellent knowledge of cricket, from its intricate rules to its myriad technical elements. Additionally it also refers to inculcating among young players the importance of discipline, hard work, devotion to the game, sportsman spirit and development of skills. Such coaching provides all the necessary tools of the game and yet lets the players enjoy the game with the free spirit that cricket essentially expects from its followers. So, parents need to look at all such factors, in addition to the infrastructure in the place and past track record of a coach before sending their child to the coach.

Famous international coaches like John Buchanan, Dave Whatmore, John Wright and Gary Kirsten are making money by assisting national teams to do well. They bring to the fore the crucial issue of whether international cricket teams need a coach, after all that such teams have gone through! The answer is a big ‘yes’. A cricketer or a cricket team can go wrong at any time in their playing life. You need someone detached from the action to point out the errors. Fine coaches are able to do that quite efficiently. Besides, big teams also need a coach to add to motivation and morale of a team while going into crucial encounters. They can even become excellent advisors in planning the next game and assist in evaluating opposing team players as also devising ways to counter them.

So let us accept one fact first: Coaching and coaches are an absolute necessity for the development of the game, be at local or international level. Good coaching creates the right environment for people to learn the game and improve upon their skills. But coaches also need to focus on bare essentials in the beginning and permit a player to bring something unique or original to the wicket. A healthy balance of that sort needs to be kept at places where they teach cricket. Lastly, a coach must effectively communicate his message to every player and push him to bigger achievements. Good infrastructure and equipment will then complete the circle to bring out players who can consistently perform at higher and higher levels of the game. If all this is ensured then the nationality of the coach matters very little; domestic or foreign, who cares!