PakPassion : What qualifications do you hold as a tutor for the ECB courses ?

 

Dave Fallows : I’m Level 3 ECB qualified myself. I was one of the first to pass the Level 3 qualification in the UK and I’ve been holding courses mainly in the North of England for the past 15 years or so for cricketers of varying abilities and experience.

 

 

PakPassion : Tell us about how you got into the tutoring?

 

Dave Fallows : I’ve played a lot of club cricket myself over the years mainly in Cumbria and I was a cricket development officer with the ECB for 10 years. I began coaching at 18 and I was part of the ECB coaching pilot Scheme with the ECB in 1991.

 

 

PakPassion : Tell us about some of the Pakistani players you have coached?

 

Dave Fallows : It all started with Kabir Khan who was the overseas professional at Kendal. I was the club captain and he was our  pro. He was a very good overseas pro and we became very good friends spending a lot of time together. Kabir was really keen on getting into coaching and we came up with the idea to run the courses for overseas players. He was on one of my first coaching courses and he is now a level 3 and I believe has coached in Pakistan first class cricket and in Afghanistan too. Some of the other Pakistani players that I have coached over the years include Ijaz Ahmed junior, Mohammad Zahid, Arshad Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Rai Iftikhar, Mujahid Jamshed, Yasir Ali, Jan Nisar Khan and Taufeeq Umar who was someone with a very good sense of humour.

 

 

PakPassion : You mentioned to me the first time we spoke that Rashid Latif was also on one of your courses?

 

Dave Fallows : Rashid Latif was one of the best coaches that has ever been on one of my courses. He was thorough, full of enthusiasm, very down to earth and paid so much attention to detail. I gave the students homework every day as the course is normally quite intense and is for 4 days and Rashid’s homework was of a very high standard. He was always the first in the classroom and an excellent student. For someone with such high cricketing credentials he was very down to earth and it was very interesting to hear his views and opinions on the game of cricket both in general and from a technical point of view.

 

 

PakPassion : I believe that Muhammad Asif also attended one of your courses?

 

Dave Fallows : Yes he did. It was a few years ago before he started playing international cricket. He was very keen and paid a lot of attention to detail in the work he submitted. Overall he was fairly quiet but of course he was very keen to talk about the finer points of fast bowling as and when it was discussed.

 

 

PakPassion : Who pays the fees for the courses you run?

 

Dave Fallows : Usually it’s the players themselves or if they have managed to negotiate a deal with the club they are representing, then it’s the club who will pay the fees.

 

 

PakPassion : Have the PCB ever paid for any of its players to attend one of your courses?

 

Dave Fallows : No they haven’t.

 

  

PakPassion : How are the courses organised and will you be running any courses this year?

 

Dave Fallows : We contact the league clubs around the country letting them know that we will be running a course and they put the players names forward who are interested in attending. I’m hopeful that we can run one, but from this season with all the work permit changes it’s harder for players to come over to the UK as overseas professionals.

 

 

PakPassion : What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into cricket coaching?

 

Dave Fallows : Definitely get involved, it develops your own game and helps you improve your game. Players who have some coaching qualifications generally have a good understanding of the game and also the coach’s role and what the coach is trying to achieve.

 

 

PakPassion : Who are the best coaches that you have seen in action?

 

Dave Fallows : In my opinion Geoff Cook at Durham and also Paul Nixon the wicketkeeper.