Ian Pont talks exclusively to PakPassion.Net about Junaid Zia and Atul Sharma. I caught up with Ian after England's great escape in the first Ashes test today. He said that England will see this draw as a victory and that the Aussies were very unlucky not to win because at times they played England off the park in all departments.

by Abdul Habib

I caught up with Ian after England's great escape in the first Ashes test today. He said that England will see this draw as a victory and that the Aussies were very unlucky not to win because at times they played England off the park in all departments. Ian praised Collingwood's gutsy innings but is worried that there may not be enough time before the 2nd test for England to regroup properly. He felt that with 4 centurions and a disciplined bowling attack, Australia showed England how test cricket should be played. The England players on the other hand all got starts but couldn't capitalize on them, if England dont start to bowl better and bat longer then Ian feels that it could be a long summer.



Ian is currently working with Junaid Zia of Pakistan whom he believes contacted him after reading about Ian on PakPassion.Net. Junaid will be coached by Ian for a month and wants to increase his bowling speed with the aim of being ready in time for the start of the upcoming first class season in Pakistan. When asked about the legality of Junaid's action Ian said that he was no expert on degrees of bend and that his work with Junaid was centred around increasing his pace.

Ian stated "The work I do (straight lines and arm pull/stretch reflex) all helps to re-align someone's action. Junaid will get quicker by default if he does this and we've certainly seen great progress already. This is not an action change but a repositioning of his body and arm to deliver more of a 'catapult' or slingshot. This is the way to truly access power and pace. Junaid is strong and flexible so I am hoping that the work we've done can help him move through the action in straight lines."

Although they didn't work with any speed guns, Ian feels that to the naked eye Junaid seems to have increased his pace. Junaid told Ian that he feels stronger in his action as a result of the work that's been done. Ian added that Junaid's attitude to the workload and drills was excellent. However Ian points out that it's what a player does in his OWN time after the coaching that helps to make the changes permanent. He's not worried about Junaid though because he said that Junaid picks things up quickly and that will help him in the learning process.

The subject of Atul Sharma came up and Ian informed me that due to a difference of opinion the professional relationship between the two had been ended, Ian doesn't know who is coaching Atul now. When I asked Ian why Atul didn't play for Rajasthan Royals in the recent charity game, he replied that as far as he'd been able to find out it was because Atul still hadn't recovered from injury. Ian thought this was quite worrying because it's been around 16 weeks since Atul sustained the injury and that's a very long time.

Ian said that coaches come and go and that going forward what Atul really needs is to start playing some cricket.

When quizzed about Atul's future Ian stated "He has a long way to go and a great deal of work to do, so whoever coaches him has a job on his hands. Practice is one thing, playing is quite another and supporters get suspicious if a player never plays. I just hope he's not afraid to play. The thought of something is often better than the reality so people can be keen not to spoil an illusion. Only by playing will he prove himself - one way or the other."

Moving on to Ian's coaching camps in the UK, he's seen some promising young fast bowlers in recent weeks. Shabaz Choudhry is an exciting Middlesex Under 19 prospect from Reading. He's tall, pacey and hits the deck hard. Then there's Irfan Sahar who came to Ian's fast bowling workshop and hit close to 85 mph on the speed gun. Irfan is raw and has a 'Waqar' style action, Ian will be working with him soon.

Lastly Ian stated "I'm going out to New Jersey at the end of July for a week, as part of Dream Cricket's Academy, to deliver some coach education and batting and bowling workshops. Although I'm widely known for my specialist fast bowling coaching, I'm also an ECB Level 3 Coach and do a great deal of batting coaching too. This gives me the chance to discover new players in the US. One player, 15 year-old Cameron Mirza (his father played first class cricket in Pakistan), is the USA Under 15s and NY U19s opening bat. I am trying to get him to England so he can have a chance at a career here."