"India Needs Fast Bowling Icon"

[ChanaLal]

India Needs a Fast Bowling Icon: Pont Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: Among his victims on debut for Essex were Viv Richards and Ian Botham, stalwarts of Somerset county cricket. Ian Pont blushes when requested to take a peep into the past when he made waves as a fast bowler on the English circuit. It is just memory now. But his passion for the game has continued. He is one of the most sought after coaches for fast bowling. His latest stint was with Bangladesh until the 2011 World Cup. Pont would never have imagined spending five days in Corbett, not sighting tigers, but honing fast bowlers at a camp organised by the Haryana Cricket Association (HCA). Amazing facilities Ūt was such a pleasant experience, the 49-year-old Englishman confessed. A call from the HCA secretary, Anirudh Chaudhary, saw Pont take the first flight to Delhi and off he was to Corbett. ŵhe facilities were amazing. A cricket ground in the middle of mountains, with great nets, good length run-ups. And the discipline of the players is unique to India. Ūn England, kids can get bored quickly because the pace of life is quite fast. I found the camp here very organised and well structured, said Pont, who has guided Shoaib Akhtar and Dale Steyn at critical stages of their career. But he lists the grooming of Catherine Dalton as his best advertisement. Å´he started at 80 kmph and is now bowling 128. Pont is convinced that India has the potential to unearth four of five bowlers who could bowl at 150 kmph consistently. He was impressed by the raw talent he saw at the camp. Å´ome had good action, I worked on the technical aspects and tried to keep it simple. If only India had a fast bowling icon, Pont insisted, there would have been a surfeit of speedsters. źour icons are mostly batsmen. It is different in Pakistan. There, most kids want to bowl fast. Disparity Pont drives home the point that there is a disparity when dealing with bowling and batting. As a coach, he observes, ÅÃatting is about technique where you won't let a kid bat wrongly. But you allow a young bowler to bowl as he wants as long as the line and length is fine. You don't want to change the bowling action but would quickly spot a batting technique error and insist on changing it quickly. That is the disparity I have seen as a coach. I don't think fast bowlers are born. Are doctors or engineers born? Known to work with fast bowlers, Pont believes the most important requisite for a fast bowler is the ÃÔize' of his heart. Ťontrolling the cricket ball is so important. I can give Steyn's example. In the sub-continent, he realised swing was more important. So, he looked to swing and took ten wickets in a Test (at Nagpur in 2010). Fast bowling is not just about banging it into the keeper's gloves. Artistry ŵhere is an art to it and this World Cup saw some very smart fast bowling. We saw yorkers, slower ones, slow bouncers, bouncers, back of the hand stuff, wide of the stumps, there was great variation. That is fast bowling to me. For Pont, the ideal fast bowler is Brett Lee. Å©e is a line and rhythm bowler, correct biomechanics positions, timing, consistency, can swing the ball late, always in the right bowling position between the white lines. To me, coaching skills are very important. If the youngster wants to study intensely, nothing can stop him from achieving his goals. http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/26/stories/2011052654172000.htm

[Tiger80]

But he lists the grooming of Catherine Dalton as his best advertisement. Å´he started at 80 kmph and is now bowling 128.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/469884.html according to espn cricinfo She is right arm medium and fastest bowl ever bowled by a woman is 120-125 .There is no news of this record being broken http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathryn_Fitzpatrick Cathryn Lorraine Fitzpatrick (born 4 March 1968 in Melbourne) is a former Australian cricketer. She was recognised as the world's fastest women pace bowler, bowling at up to 125 km/h.

[ChanaLal]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/469884.html according to espn cricinfo She is right arm medium and fastest bowl ever bowled by a woman is 120-125 .There is no news of this record being broken http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathryn_Fitzpatrick Cathryn Lorraine Fitzpatrick (born 4 March 1968 in Melbourne) is a former Australian cricketer. She was recognised as the world's fastest women pace bowler, bowling at up to 125 km/h.

Dalton hasn't yet played in a ODI for England and is no doubt working in the nets on the speed i am guessing. We all know how far behind CricInfo is with details on what people do and wikipedia is written by anyone who has a computer. It would be interesting to see how this girl bowls during the next few years and whether she can achieve those speeds in matches.

[Tiger80]

Dalton hasn't yet played in a ODI for England and is no doubt working in the nets on the speed i am guessing. We all know how far behind CricInfo is with details on what people do and wikipedia is written by anyone who has a computer. It would be interesting to see how this girl bowls during the next few years and whether she can achieve those speeds in matches.

according to cricinfo she is medium pace bowler.no mention of her bowling 128 kmph

[ChanaLal]

according to cricinfo she is medium pace bowler.no mention of her bowling 128 kmph

read what I said please... CricInfo is often a long way behind. I checked and Dalton hasn't played a match where a speed gun has been used so doesn't have an 'official' speed. Also we know speeds change from TV speed gun to speed gun. Very few women's games are even televised anyway. It is quite possible she has bowled high speeds for women's cricket and it has simply not been recorded.

[Tiger80]

read what I said please... CricInfo is often a long way behind. I checked and Dalton hasn't played a match where a speed gun has been used so doesn't have an 'official' speed. Also we know speeds change from TV speed gun to speed gun. Very few women's games are even televised anyway. It is quite possible she has bowled high speeds for women's cricket and it has simply not been recorded.

may be but it looks to me more as exageration.He says that she started at 80kmph but now she is 128 ,that means she increased speed by 60% ,in other words a male fast bowler start at 105 kmph then he could reach 170 kmph speed or may be pont is talking about her childhood speed

[rkt.india]

may be but it looks to me more as exageration.He says that she started at 80kmph but now she is 128 ' date='that means she increased speed by 60% ,in other words a male fast bowler start at 105 kmph then he could reach 170 kmph speed or may be pont is talking about her childhood speed[/quote'] This is not significant. Maybe she was bowling 80 mph when she first started playing cricket did not have proper bowling action and run up. Significant thing is most female pacers bowl at 110 kph while she is bowling over 120KPH according to Pont.

[Tiger80]

This is not significant. Maybe she was bowling 80 mph when she first started playing cricket did not have proper bowling action and run up. Significant thing is most female pacers bowl at 110 kph while she is bowling over 120KPH according to Pont.

That's why I find it difficult to believe that the figure of 128 kph ,that mean 15-20% faster than current bowlers Anyway if women bowlers from Australia ,england ,NZ will start bowling at 125-130 range then i will stop watching Indian cricket.This is going to be biggest humilation that our pacers are slower than their women pacers :two_thumbs_up:

[rkt.india]

That's why I find it difficult to believe that the figure of 128 kph ,that mean 15-20% faster than current bowlers Anyway if women bowlers from Australia ,england ,NZ will start bowling at 125-130 range then i will stop watching Indian cricket.This is going to be biggest humilation that our pacers are slower than their women pacers :two_thumbs_up:

:cantstop: PS: Don't trust...This is Ian Pont...The Hoaxman:dance:

[ChanaLal]

may be but it looks to me more as exageration.He says that she started at 80kmph but now she is 128 ' date='that means she increased speed by 60% ,in other words a male fast bowler start at 105 kmph then he could reach 170 kmph speed or may be pont is talking about her childhood speed[/quote'] it might be that the interviewer put up the wrong figures as well. I have seen that before. Also, that figure isn't actually SAID by Pont in quotes, but by the interviewer in the article. Sometimes things get badly twisted as we know.

[ChanaLal]

This is not significant. Maybe she was bowling 80 mph when she first started playing cricket did not have proper bowling action and run up. Significant thing is most female pacers bowl at 110 kph while she is bowling over 120KPH according to Pont.

I feel that 120 kph is more likely, but its still significant. A little research found this audio interview: http://www.pitchvision.com/files/PitchVision%20Academy%20-%20PitchVision%20Academy%20Show%20088.mp3 - it seems like a year ago according to that web site. Here the player talks about TARGETING 80 mph as a goal and not she was there yet.

[Rahul Dravid]

the question is... why can't women bowl as fast as men?

[ChanaLal]

:cantstop: PS: Don't trust...This is Ian Pont...The Hoaxman:dance:

rkt.india what is this vendetta against Pont you have? We all know the Sharma story where the bowler disappeared and left Pont to face the critics. that wasn't his fault. He coaches Steyn and Akthar so is clearly not a hoaxman. Let's just stop this stuff. To say not to TRUST someone, especially a world-renowned coach, is pretty unpleasant. I am from Haryana and excited this guy is coming to coach our pacers over the next 4 years plus help our other local coaches. Any help an expert can give us is very welcomed :two_thumbs_up:

[rkt.india]

rkt.india what is this vendetta against Pont you have? We all know the Sharma story where the bowler disappeared and left Pont to face the critics. that wasn't his fault. He coaches Steyn and Akthar so is clearly not a hoaxman. Let's just stop this stuff. To say not to TRUST someone, especially a world-renowned coach, is pretty unpleasant. I am from Haryana and excited this guy is coming to coach our pacers over the next 4 years plus help our other local coaches. Any help an expert can give us is very welcomed :two_thumbs_up:

I was just joking...Chillax:two_thumbs_up: Have you seen any good decent fast bowler in Haryana, not trundler, at least fast medium.

[Tiger80]

the question is... why can't women bowl as fast as men?

That is biological difference Strength, power and muscle mass On average, males are physically stronger than females. The difference is due to females, on average, having less total muscle mass than males, and also having lower muscle mass in comparison to total body mass. While individual muscle fibers have similar strength, males have more fibers due to their greater total muscle mass. The greater muscle mass of males is in turn due to a greater capacity for muscular hypertrophy as a result of men's higher levels of testosterone. Males remain stronger than females, when adjusting for differences in total body mass. This is due to the higher male muscle-mass to body-mass ratio.[4] As a result, gross measures of body strength suggest an average 40-50% difference in upper body strength between the sexes as a result of this difference, and a 20-30% difference in lower body strength.[5] This is supported by another study that found females are about 52-66 percent as strong as males in the upper body (34-48% difference), and about 70-80 percent as strong in the lower body (20-30% difference).[6] One study of muscle strength in the elbows and kneesÃÊn 45 and older males and femalesÃÇound the strength of females to range from 42 to 63% of male strength.[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_humans ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok and this is not only wikipedia there are several studies available on net that shows women have 50% less upper body strength

[bulbul]

the question is... why can't women bowl as fast as men?

Ask ahkhu...if u eat like that let alone bowl fast you cant even walk fast

[Blue Panther]

Did he said anything abt atul sharma?:winky:

[rkt.india]

The fastest ball bowled by a female fast bowler is 120KPH which was bowled by an Indian, Jhulan Goswami.

[achilles]

I think Zaheer Khan is looked at as an icon these days. The big question is- "Does India consider a wily fox as an icon? Or should India yearn for an unforgiving speed merchant as a person to look up to?"

[Tiger80]

The fastest ball bowled by a female fast bowler is 120KPH which was bowled by an Indian' date=' Jhulan Goswami.[/quote'] Isn't Catherine flitzpack 's bowl recorded as fastest?