Lillee happy with progress of MRF Pace Foundation

One of the key reasons for the success of the MRF Pace Foundation in recent years is the manner in which the foundation follows up on its wards. Unlike many other academies, the MRF Pace Foundation tracks the cricketing growth of their trainees right from the beginning onwards. Even after Dennis Lillee finishes his stint in Chennai and heads back to Australia, he is in constant touch with TA Sekhar, head coach at the Foundation. The latest stint at the academy began on the June 20 and concluded on June 28. There were several new aspects to this camp, and several advancements from the last time around.

The first major difference was the use of a software known as 'Silicon Coach.' The high tech aid helps caches dissect a bowler's action right down to the basics. "This software determines injury mechanisms, creates split screen presentations, calculates distances, speeds and angles and provides rapid feedback for trainees and coaches," described Lillee. The former Aussie quick went on to add, "The software compares techniques of elite and novice performers and provides qualitative and quantitative comparison before and after intervention."

But there was more to the camp than just the introduction of a new bit of technology. Troy Cooley, fitness expert and assistant coach at the Australian Cricket Academy, was in Chennai for the second year in succession. The former Tasmanian fast bowler performed some standard physical tests on the trainees. The test he performed was the same one used back home in Australia. It was good news for the lads at the Foundation as the results showed that the gap in fitness levels between trainees in India and Australia was narrowing fast.

When Lillee came to Chennai last in February, he selected 15 wards to train at the Pace Foundation. Although encouraged by the results, Lillee was firm in his belief that these youngsters would have to train much harder in order to achieve higher honours. The list of 15 has been pruned to 12 and the training programme continues in right earnest.

The list of 12 trainees hand picked by Lillee to continue at the MRF Pace Foundation are: Ishan Malhotra (Punjab), Tinu Yohannen (Kerala), Sujoy Parul (Bengal), G Chaita (Karnataka), Prashanth Chandran (Kerala), Chandrasekhar Atram (Vidarbha), Baburao Yadav (Vidarbha), Abhishek Choudhury (Delhi), Harish Puri (Punjab), Irfan Pathan (Vadodara), KS Veeranan (Tamil Nadu) and Avishkar Salvi (Mumbai).