LIVE and EXCLUSIVE Discussion with Coach Julien Fountain

[Direct-Hit]

Originally Posted by cricket_pagol
Coach, loved reading all your comments. Thanks making yourself so accessible.

Ans:
No problem, its a pleasure.

[Direct-Hit]

Originally Posted by tiger_omar
Hey Julian, I just wanted to say thanks for being so involved in your coaching and also in Banglacricket. It's great to see our coaches take initiative and it makes us feel great to know that our coaches care about our team as much as our players and our fans and we are all behind you.

Good luck in the World Cup and in the future

Ans:
No problem, its a pleasure.

[magic boy]

How do you treat if a fielder do well in a match? we already have been told by Ian about the embroidered kill badged towel. is there any other special treatment just after the match? also for the one who failed miserably?

[Direct-Hit]

Originally Posted by magic boy
How do you treat if a fielder do well in a match? we already have been told by Ian about the embroidered kill badged towel. is there any other special treatment just after the match? also for the one who failed miserably?

Answer:
We are going to award "MVP or Most valuable Player" in each dept, batting, bowling & fielding.

We don't have fielders who fail miserably !

[Shartaz]

Originally Posted by Direct-Hit
Answer:
No you have started something . . . . . This is one of my pet hates and biggest topics.
The reason you hear that batting is more technical than bowling or fielding is for two big reasons:
1. The people who are talking about it (ie commentators, journalists administrators) ALL used to be batsmen, so will always make out that their skill was the most difficult to execute simply to show everyone ho good they obviously were ! (If you dont believe me check each commentator and see who was a batter and who was a bowler, then you will see !!!)
2. Because Cricket has not kept detailed statistics for any of the 3 skills, until just recently, batting was the easiest to keep track of and create statistics for. This was followed by bowling. Fielding still has not got a full statistical breakdown available, which is why I created fielding analysis software for just that purpose.

Fielding is like both Batting and bowling combined. It has a similar physical feel to bowling, with close fielding feeling a little more like batting. But it is also like batting because as with batting needing you to master a whole repertoire of shots, fielding needs you to master a whole repertoire of skills.

Fielding has been the poor relation because ignorant players and coaches have not fully understood the concept and the importance. Take heed all . . . Fielding is just as important as batting and bowling. Treat it thus or suffer the consequences of ignorance !

Coach,

I'll take your word over the commies anyday...

just in case you were wondering....Bumble is always on about this on tv....

nd coach I in no way was trying to imply that fielding is less important....it is as important as you have mentioned 'saved runs' in the field are akin to scoring those runs while batting

[Alchemist]

Coach

While reading your posts, I was just wondering, do you have any plan to write a book on fielding (like Ian wrote one on fast bowling)? It would be a great read, I'm sure!

[Zeeshan]

Originally Posted by Alchemist
Coach

While reading your posts, I was just wondering, do you have any plan to write a book on fielding (like Ian wrote one on fast bowling)? It would be a great read, I'm sure!

And if you are interested in translating I recommend babubangla bhai for it. (And if the deal works out, may be a little cha-ching, bling bling this way? Perhaps 15%.... j/k! )

[Robi]

Coach,
Since you are coming to BC,i was wondering does our players also visit BC at times?

[Banglaguy]

Coach, what is the average time reaction a slip feilder has to react to the ball? What is the time our little mushy has to react for a stumping?

[Direct-Hit]

Originally Posted by Banglaguy
Coach, what is the average time reaction a slip feilder has to react to the ball? What is the time our little mushy has to react for a stumping?

Answer:
Lots of factors . . .Speed of delivery, pace of pitch, distance from bat, deviation off bat etc

But here is an approximation:

Bowler bowls 90mph ball (hand speed) which when it hits the pitch, the the edge is now actually travelling at 70mph. Wk / slip is standing 20 metres back. Ball is travelling at 70mph or 32 metres / second. 20 divided by 32 gives 0.62 seconds from edge to hands !

For a spinner reduce speeds to around 55mph - 65mph (27 metres / sec) but also reduce distance to around 3 metres for a wk and around 6 metres for a slip.
3 metres & 27m/s gives a reaction time of 0.12 seconds !

Hence you cannot judge wk standing up to a spinner in the same way you judge a slip fielder as the distances & reaction times are different. If ball deviates more than a fraction, he simply cannot adjust quickly enough.

[Dilscoop]

Originally Posted by Direct-Hit
Have not seen it yet.

It was "disclosed" today. Check out our reaction.
http://www.banglacricket.com/alochon...ad.php?t=35626

And I made these >> http://img691.imageshack.us/g/bangladeshjmain.png/
Comments

Btw I am dying to see those special towels.

[Zeeshan]

Coach Fountain:

Speaking of your moniker...is the practice of direct throws/shy at the stumps as much emphasized as other aspects of the fielding? Since any skill can be mastered and developed, do players spend great deal of time on throwing or you have a different philosophy?

Edit: It would be great asset if all the players could develop great throwing arms.

Thanks.

[deshprem]

i think either coach can answer this- does powerbalance bracelets actually work?

thanks coach.

[Banglaguy]

Originally Posted by Direct-Hit
Answer:
Lots of factors . . .Speed of delivery, pace of pitch, distance from bat, deviation off bat etc

But here is an approximation:

Bowler bowls 90mph ball (hand speed) which when it hits the pitch, the the edge is now actually travelling at 70mph. Wk / slip is standing 20 metres back. Ball is travelling at 70mph or 32 metres / second. 20 divided by 32 gives 0.62 seconds from edge to hands !

For a spinner reduce speeds to around 55mph - 65mph (27 metres / sec) but also reduce distance to around 3 metres for a wk and around 6 metres for a slip.
3 metres & 27m/s gives a reaction time of 0.12 seconds !

Hence you cannot judge wk standing up to a spinner in the same way you judge a slip fielder as the distances & reaction times are different. If ball deviates more than a fraction, he simply cannot adjust quickly enough.

Woah, so are there anyways I can increase my reaction times? Like how would you do it for our feilders?

[AsifTheManRahman]

There has been quite a bit of off-topic banter in this thread over the last few days and the mods have had to clean up/remove a handful of posts. Please note that this thread is meant for your questions for the coach and his answers only. Please do not engage in discussions with other members that could derail the thread and lead to an unpleasant reading environment. Posts of such nature will be removed and their authors dealt with accordingly.

- Mod

[Direct-Hit]

Originally Posted by ZeeshanM
Coach Fountain:

Speaking of your moniker...is the practice of direct throws/shy at the stumps as much emphasized as other aspects of the fielding? Since any skill can be mastered and developed, do players spend great deal of time on throwing or you have a different philosophy?

Edit: It would be great asset if all the players could develop great throwing arms.

Thanks.

Answer:
With the advent of television replay & UDRS etc, gone are the days of an umpire giving a runout purely by eye as there is usually too much riding upon the decision. Simply put, the time it takes a player to catch a slightly offline throw and then break the stumps will allow the batter those precious milliseconds to continue sprinting / diving / reaching the bat across the line. We are now dealing in 1/10ths of a second, a single frame shot may decide either way.

This is why we have been working recently on adjusting how the player takes those slightly offline throws (& I am only talking a few inches not feet !) and then breaks the stumps accordingly without wasting any extra time.

So yes, throwing accuracy is massively important, that is why I have been working on the players mechanics, to improve accuracy + Power + reduce injuries + reduce execution time.

[Direct-Hit]

Originally Posted by Robi
Coach,
Since you are coming to BC,i was wondering does our players also visit BC at times?

Answer:
You never know . . . . . .

[Direct-Hit]

Originally Posted by Alchemist
Coach

While reading your posts, I was just wondering, do you have any plan to write a book on fielding (like Ian wrote one on fast bowling)? It would be a great read, I'm sure!

Answer:
That is in my plans for the future definitely.

[Banglaguy]

Do you think maybe you can come to my school's cricket sessions one day in London?

[Direct-Hit]

Originally Posted by Banglaguy
Do you think maybe you can come to my school's cricket sessions one day in London?

Answer;
If and when I come to London, I would love to. I will let you know when I am visiting & you set it up.

[Banglaguy]

Originally Posted by Direct-Hit
Answer;
If and when I come to London, I would love to. I will let you know when I am visiting & you set it up.

yay! Just holla at me when you are here

[BappyHayat]

Hi Julien, welcome to Banglacricket.com

Just wondering if you are introducing any baseball techniques in the fielding practice (e.g. fielding a ground ball, pop fly etc)

Wish you guys the best in WC

[Direct-Hit]

Originally Posted by BappyHayat
Hi Julien, welcome to Banglacricket.com

Just wondering if you are introducing any baseball techniques in the fielding practice (e.g. fielding a ground ball, pop fly etc)

Wish you guys the best in WC

Answer:

All my coaching is a fusion of Baseball & Cricket !

[Prime]

Did you have a chance to be a tourist and explore Bangladesh, any highlights you want to share?

[Direct-Hit]

Originally Posted by Prime
Did you have a chance to be a tourist and explore Bangladesh, any highlights you want to share?

Answer:
Not really had the opportunity, unfortunately, but have recently bought a nice camera and have started compiling some excellent shots of Dhaka / Chittagong life and Bangladesh cricket !