Cricket coaching course opens new avenues (13 Aug 1996)

13 August 1996

Cricket coaching course opens new avenues

by Sa`adi Thawfeeq

The Level II diploma coaching course conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka for coaches, brought out the cold truth, how far Sri Lanka has fallen behind in cricket coaching.

Modern day cricket coaching is not just skill and technique which the local coaches are quite adept at, but there are other peripheral areas that make a contribution to the performance of a cricketer.

Areas such as biomechanics, the movement of body parts in performing a skill, psychology, fitness, nutrition etc. play an equally important part in the success of a cricketer or for that matter, any sportsman.

The 17 coaches who underwent the course benefited immensely especially from the lectures given by John Harmer, an Australian specialist in biomechanics, whose visit to Sri Lanka was funded by the Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation in Queensland and hosted by Hotel Taj Samudra.

"Biomechanics is about 10 years old in cricket. It has undergone very slow progress in cricket probably, because the game is played much as a natural sport of players,`` said Harmer.

"Proven players didn`t think it was necessary to look at the background of why your techniques need to be in a certain fashion to make sure they get the best out of it,`` he said.

"In the last year or two, with a tremendous amount of back injuries with young and older cricketers coming down with stress fractures of the back, biomechanics has in itself come into its own as an injury prevention mechanism in cricket``.

"Today, biomechanics is part and parcel of cricket. I think it is going to play a major part in the next few years,`` said Harmer.

The overall impression Harmer got from his audience of 17 coaches was `very positive`.

"The enthusiasm the coaches have shown in the area work has been really pleasing to me,`` said Harmer.

"Biomechanics is a subject that when a boy comes and says to you: `Why did you tell me that? You say tradition has said you got to get your arm in this position when you bowl`,`` Harmer said.

"But now we have got a reason for saying that. The coaches have within themselves a nice feeling, fairly on what they are saying. Once you start looking at sports through the biomechanics manner, you will really enjoy it,`` he said.

"I am very pleased that we had someone like John to come over and give potential coaches a real assistance in understanding what the body does to perform a skill,`` said Sri Lanka cricket coach Davenall Whatmore, who has been instrumental in putting this diploma together with Sri Lanka Cricket Board director of coaching Malcolm Perera.

"Often you can perform a skill, but to understand it, is a great benefit not only to coaches, but the players themselves. They realise what they are doing and ask themselves, can it be done better?`` said Whatmore.

"This area has never been touched before. Even other Western countries are starting to realise the importance of this sort of scientific support to the players,`` he said.

"John`s presence has made a significant importance to the whole course. There`s no question about it. We are basically in the infancy stage. We have a long way to go. But in time, this country can catch up with others``.

"It is fair to say that, because of the lack of technology over time, players and coaches have missed out the opportunity to learn in the areas other than what they have been proficient in``.

"Whatever these coaches in Sri Lanka have been doing over the years, as an outsider looking in, they have done a pretty good job. They may not have won matches for the last 100 years, which they are starting to do now, but everyone from overseas has a common view that Sri Lankan cricketers have technique,`` said Whatmore.

"I think everyone gained tremendous amount from it, particularly the people who had played the game at the highest level. We had three Sri Lankan captains, and to get their input into the three and a half days was just superb,`` Whatmore said.

The three Sri Lankan captains were Arjuna Ranatunga, Bandula Warnapura and Anura Tennekoon.

Whatmore was of the opinion this type of courses should be conducted in future too, but was apprehensive whether they could have a quality presenter like John Harmer.

"I think we will have to struggle for a little while. I personally would like to see John being a consultant in the biomechanical area until such time we can get a university lecturer interested in this area,`` said Whatmore.

"The course conducted by us was a mixture of English and Australian courses. We drew up a program to suit Sri Lanka,`` said Perera, who was assisted in drawing up the program by Whatmore, and National Cricket Association of England qualified coaches W.A.N. Silva and Ranjit Fernando.

"Probably the highlight I felt, and most coaches felt, was the way in which the coach can identify some errors in bowling,`` said Perera.

"John took all the participants through a case study of some under 15 boys. He showed what to look for in picking up some errors in the run-up, back foot landing, front foot landing, the funny jump and turn that bowlers have on their follow through etc``.

"The main reason for that is to prevent boys from getting stress fractures and to identify the mixed actions that cause severe problems in the lower back to young fast bowlers,`` said Perera.

Contributions were also made by Richard Walsh (currently with the national team), who has qualified as masters in exercise physiology, Sri Lanka team physio Alex Kountouri, Whatmore, Lionel Mendis, Ranatunga, Warnapura, Ranjit Fernando, W.A.N. Silva and Sunil Fernando.

"I am really happy that we managed to get the expertise of ex cricketers as well as former coaches into one program,`` said Perera.

The Cricket Board`s coaching committee (headed by Thilanga Sumathipala), under whose guidance the course was conducted, is hoping to hold another similar course some time in November this year. It is also looking for feasible dates to conduct a level 3 course, which is slightly higher than the concluded one.

The following is a cross-section of views by some of the candidates who underwent the course:

ARJUNA RANATUNGA, present Sri Lanka Test captain and batsman: ``This is the first time I have undertaken a coaching course. I was not interested at the beginning. But now I am glad I did it because I learnt a lot from it. I undertook to follow the course not because I wanted to get a certificate, but because of the knowledge one gained from following it. I would recommend that all Sri Lankan cricketers should follow it. It will help them understand techniques and injuries. The main part that interested me was injuries to bowlers. Had I known of it earlier, I would have been able to help some of the bowlers and prevented them from injuries``.

RUMESH RATNAYAKE, former Sri Lanka Test fast bowler (presently cricket manager of NCC): "It was a fantastic thing. A good concept. Personally, I feel the Australian style of coaching should be taken into consideration. I learnt a lot on psychology, biomechanics, strength training and physiotherapy. These subjects helped me to enhance my knowledge on coaching. Had I come to know of these areas during my career, I would have become a to- tally different bowler and achieved the goals that I had set for myself``.

BANDULA WARNAPURA, Sri Lanka`s first Test captain and former opening batsman (presently running a coaching school at St. Thomas` College, Kotte) : "The course provides a lot of answers to a lot of questions a coach has been unable to answer on certain areas of coaching. Having gone through the course, it gives you a lot of confidence to face the pupil. It has also taught us how far behind we are in these areas. The area on biomechanics provided a lot of answers to problems on fielding and bowling. A research on it should be done with our players, especially schoolboys. The course has certainly helped me broaden my knowledge in coaching``.

ANURA TENNEKOON, former Sri Lanka captain and former batsman (presently director of Sri Lanka Cricket Academy) : "The course gave an insight to what it takes to be a true international cricketer. The areas I found very profitable were the lectures by John Harmer on biomechanics, prevention of injuries and treatment by Alex Kountouri, and, strength training and nutrition by Richard Walsh. The information given was new and was of immense benefit to people who needed information in coaching. I followed it mainly to enhance my knowledge as director of the Cricket Academy``.

ASOKA DE SILVA, former Sri Lanka Test leg-spinner (presently coach of Galle CC) : "I learnt a lot from this course especially on the field of biomechanics. We have never come across the knowledge that we learnt especially in fielding and bowling. It is very easy to coach any bowler and help prevent them from a lot of injuries. Other areas I found interesting were sports injuries, dieting and mental preparations. I have always wanted to give something back to Sri Lanka cricket. That is why I undertook this course``.

JAYANTHA SENEVIRATNE, former Sri Lanka batsman (presently running a coaching school at Bloomfield and coach of Nalanda College) : "The most important thing about the course was the subject on biomechanics. I have only read books on it, but never got the opportunity to really grasp what it is all about till I followed the course. Other important areas were the prevention of injuries, and how to detect errors in batting and bowling. It was a valuable course, but those who conduct it should pick and choose the correct people to follow it. There were some who didn`t know what was being said``.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)