LIVE and EXCLUSIVE Discussion with Coach Ian Pont

**Zunaid** · #1 February 1, 2011, 08:27 AM

I, on behalf of BaglaCricket.com, have the singular pleasure of welcoming National Bowling Coach Ian Pont as a member of BanglaCricket.com

He has agreed to come on board and answer fan questions as his time permits. Just as I requested all of you with Coach Julien Fountain, please respect coach Ian Pont's time and privacy.

We cannot be more grateful to have Ian here with us. He has been one of the most accessible of all the coaches we have had. His enthusiasm for Bangladesh and his desire for our boys to excel is palpable and so obvious! I personally believe his enthusiasm and self-belief is contagious and has carried over to the team. One only has to remember Shafiul's slower balls and Rubel's yorkers and both their improvement in death bowling abilities as testament to Ian Pont as bowling coach.

Let us all welcome him to Bangladesh and to our forum!

He is joining us as "Ian Pont"

Fans - ask away!

Coach - you are on!

riankhan · #2 February 1, 2011, 08:31 AM

Holly Smookey......Its Coach Ian Pont!
Welcome to BC Ian........

roman · #3 February 1, 2011, 08:43 AM

Thank you Mr. Pont for sharing your valuable time with us.

My question to you is how is the preparation going on for the WC?

You are working with Rubel's bowling action. How effective will Rubel be with the new style?

How do you like Dhaka so far? What is your favorite place?

Thank you again

MarufH · #4 February 1, 2011, 08:50 AM

Welcome coach!!! We are super excited to have you here. here is my question:

Have you seen Farhad Reza? What is your opinion about him as a bowler? (given he can be an asset to our pp issues as well as third seamer)

Ian Pont · #5 February 1, 2011, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarufH
Welcome coach!!! We are super excited to have you here. here is my question:

Have you seen Farhad Reza? What is your opinion about him as a bowler? (given he can be an asset to our pp issues as well as third seamer)

No idea who he is...

MarufH · #6 February 2, 2011, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian Pont
No idea who he is...

Here is the profile of Farhad Reza: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/conte...yer/55894.html

He is scoring heavily in this domestic league. He is also grabbing a lot of wickets.

Ian Pont · #7 February 1, 2011, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roman
Thank you Mr. Pont for sharing your valuable time with us.

My question to you is how is the preparation going on for the WC?

You are working with Rubel's bowling action. How effective will Rubel be with the new style?

How do you like Dhaka so far? What is your favorite place?

Thank you again

Preparation is good and on track. We are not working on any bowling actions just before a World Cup. However we are trying to help the bowlers to be more consistent. I find the people really friendly but the traffic is shocking. I live in Gulshan so only really know that part of the City.

Ian Pont · #8 February 1, 2011, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riankhan
Holly Smookey......Its Coach Ian Pont!
Welcome to BC Ian........

Thanks! happy to be here

riankhan · #9 February 1, 2011, 08:38 AM

1. How fast can our bowlers bowl now a days? Specially Shafiul, Rubel and Shahadat?
2. Are we gonna see any surprising element in our bowling department in the WC?
3. Who is the most improved bowler among the current lot? Who has the potential to be a world class beside our National bowlers?

Thanks in advance.

Ian Pont · #10 February 1, 2011, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riankhan
1. How fast can our bowlers bowl now a days? Specially Shafiul, Rubel and Shahadat?
2. Are we gonna see any surprising element in our bowling department in the WC?
3. Who is the most improved bowler among the current lot? Who has the potential to be a world class beside our National bowlers?

Thanks in advance.

1. Fastest balls (not consistent speeds but fastest) they have bowled I think are: Shafiul !40, Rubel 147 and Shahdat 148.

2. We don't need surprises we need consistently good bowling.

3. Most improved bowler is Shafiul by some distance. he can lead the attack for many years to come. Potential to keep an eye out for is Rabbi who plays at Sharihar Nafees club.

Alchemist · #11 February 2, 2011, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian Pont
1. Fastest balls (not consistent speeds but fastest) they have bowled I think are: Shafiul !40, Rubel 147 and Shahdat 148.

A warm welcome to Banglacricket Ian (it's pretty warm out here in Sydney...nearly 37 degree celsious)

My question to you: how did you manage to get a 148K delivery from Shahadat? He was bowling around 130K not long ago. Could you please explain what miracle have you done with him?

Also, you've mentioned Dollar as a potential fast bowling allrounder. What about Shafiul and Shahadat? As far as I remember, both of them impressed the fans here in Banglacricket with their batting abilities(Shahadat against India and Shafiul against England last year). Your opinion?

Ian Pont · #12 February 2, 2011, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alchemist
A warm welcome to Banglacricket Ian (it's pretty warm out here in Sydney...nearly 37 degree celsious)

My question to you: how did you manage to get a 148K delivery from Shahadat? He was bowling around 130K not long ago. Could you please explain what miracle have you done with him?

Also, you've mentioned Dollar as a potential fast bowling allrounder. What about Shafiul and Shahadat? As far as I remember, both of them impressed the fans here in Banglacricket with their batting abilities(Shahadat against India and Shafiul against England last year). Your opinion?

I did not say Shahadat bowled that speed recently. I said this was his fastest. But you are WAY out if you think he bowls 130 kph. he's been bowling around 140 in WC practice with the squad so far and is easily the most aggressive fast bowler in the nets.

Shafiul and Shahadat are not batsmen in the way Dolar is. S and S are both tail end batsmen who can swing the bat. Dolar COULD be a real middle/late order batter. Swinging a bat is not the same as being a batsman.

al Furqaan · #13 February 2, 2011, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian Pont
I did not say Shahadat bowled that speed recently. I said this was his fastest. But you are WAY out if you think he bowls 130 kph. he's been bowling around 140 in WC practice with the squad so far and is easily the most aggressive fast bowler in the nets.

Shafiul and Shahadat are not batsmen in the way Dolar is. S and S are both tail end batsmen who can swing the bat. Dolar COULD be a real middle/late order batter. Swinging a bat is not the same as being a batsman.

don't intend to sound annoyingly brat-like at all, but i do have a fetish for the radar gun readings...

1) what would you say is the average pace of the guys you are working with right now? based on what i've seen, and you would know far better than me, i'd say:

Rubel = 140 kph on average
Shafiul = 135 kph
Shahadat = 128 kph (used to be 135 a few years ago)
Nazmul = 130 kph
Mashrafee (when fit) = 132 kph

2) is Shahadat improving his economy rate? Its a bit too much for him to go for 4 an over in Tests. Do you think he can get it down to 3.5 which would be a far better figure?

3) Have you had any time to look at Talha Jubair? He is usually always amongst our domestic wicket leaders. Andy Roberts saw him at age 16 and said he had the potential to be a 90 mph speedster. Not sure what his pace is these days, but according to Sohel NR, he's more accurate now.

thanks again for you time, Sir!

nsd3 · #14 February 1, 2011, 08:40 AM

Hi Coach, in the absence of many fast bowling options Bangladesh Team has to make the best use of its available resources and pacers mainly make sure spinners have the batsmen already in check by some accurate bowling. But how would you plan to take the pacers out of this position of standing behind the spinners helping them to dominate the batsmen and rather make them stand tall and be the match winners for Bangladesh?

Ian Pont · #15 February 1, 2011, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsd3
Hi Coach, in the absence of many fast bowling options Bangladesh Team has to make the best use of its available resources and pacers mainly make sure spinners have the batsmen already in check by some accurate bowling. But how would you plan to take the pacers out of this position of standing behind the spinners helping them to dominate the batsmen and rather make them stand tall and be the match winners for Bangladesh?

Agreed that our strength is in our spin bowling. We have the best spin bowling ODI unit in world cricket in my opinion so it is obvious we will look to utilise that.

The quicks have a VITAL role to play. The new ball can swing, and the old ball can reverse swing. We saw Rubel destroying NZ with early wickets. Shafiul has learned to swing the ball away to right handers. Nazmul has some of the best disguised slower balls I have ever seen. These things make our fast bowlers a threat at certain times.

But it is a swinging cricket ball that causes problems. This is how Zaheer Khan for example has been so deadly despite not having express pace.

We have been working hard on swing and also on controlling where the ball lands. If the guys can do that at higher speeds then they will make a big impression.

nsd3 · #16 February 1, 2011, 08:46 AM

How do you rate Shahadat and Farhad Reza? Both of them played for National Team. Shahadat was once the fastest and changed his action, I guess, a year ago. He lost his pace after that. Farhad was a regular player in place of Riad/Naeem.. but he got lost due to his ICL stint. But he did well in the recent domestic league. Did you have any chance to give them any tips (although they are not part of the WC 15s)?

riankhan · #17 February 1, 2011, 08:50 AM

Please also let us know few of your favorites, like:

Movies:
Actors/Actresses:
Bangladeshi Foods:
Favorite Restaurant in Dhaka:
Favorite Bowlers outside Bangladesh:

psi · #18 February 1, 2011, 08:54 AM

Hi,
Is it possible to give us some information about the butterfly ball? Thanks.

**Zunaid** · #19 February 1, 2011, 08:59 AM

ps. He may not walk in right this instance. He has a day job. So patience

godzilla · #20 February 1, 2011, 09:29 AM

Hi coach, how have you been doing?
My question is about the butterfly ball. Did the boys fully master the technic or is it still " under construction"?

Btw under which username will he be joining us?

**Zunaid** · #21 February 1, 2011, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by godzilla
Hi coach, how have you been doing?
My question is about the butterfly ball. Did the boys fully master the technic or is it still " under construction"?

Btw under which username will he be joining us?

He is with us as "Ian Pont"

Shocky · #22 February 1, 2011, 09:22 AM

Will our pacers be able to increase their speed under your supervision?? How much time it will take??

Posted via BC Mobile Edition

Ian Pont · #23 February 1, 2011, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shocky
Will our pacers be able to increase their speed under your supervision?? How much time it will take??

Posted via BC Mobile Edition

Any bowler will only increase their speed if THEY want to. Both Shafiul and Shahdat appear to have done that recently but the work I can with them is limited.

I do not have them to work with 3 times a week as I would have liked because they are either playing ODI's or playing club cricket. The training camps do not allow for the time to take any bowlers and teach them the painstaking drills they need to increase or correct faults quickly.

It takes TIME to change an action and improve things. The bowler needs to go away and do the 'homework' of skill drills to help. I have the knowledge to help them but not the time or accessibility to get to the bowlers and do it.

munnabhai · #24 February 1, 2011, 09:26 AM

Firstly, I would like to thank Zunaid for giving us the opportunity to have a direct interaction with our bowling coach. Appreciate your work, Boss.

Dear Coach,
It's a pleasure having you here among us. We have all been huge fans of you ever since you joined our Tigers crew. I hope you are enjoying your stay. It's really an honor to have you in our National Camp. Here are my questions:

1) Did you come across any potential bowlers in our domestic or national team who can bowl at 140kph+ consistently and swing the ball too?

2) How do you rate our pace attack of Rubel/Shaf/Nazmul? I believe we will be playing with 2 in the starting squad, who are our first choices?

3) Lastly, just like everyone else, I am eager to know about the butterfly ball, which bowler has perfected the butterfly bowler as of now?

Thank You once again for finding time out of your busy schedule and answering our questions

Ian Pont · #25 February 1, 2011, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by munnabhai
Firstly, I would like to thank Zunaid for giving us the opportunity to have a direct interaction with our bowling coach. Appreciate your work, Boss.

Dear Coach,
It's a pleasure having you here among us. We have all been huge fans of you ever since you joined our Tigers crew. I hope you are enjoying your stay. It's really an honor to have you in our National Camp. Here are my questions:

1) Did you come across any potential bowlers in our domestic or national team who can bowl at 140kph+ consistently and swing the ball too?

2) How do you rate our pace attack of Rubel/Shaf/Nazmul? I believe we will be playing with 2 in the starting squad, who are our first choices?

3) Lastly, just like everyone else, I am eager to know about the butterfly ball, which bowler has perfected the butterfly bowler as of now?

Thank You once again for finding time out of your busy schedule and answering our questions

I do not watch any domestic cricket so rely on training camps to see bowlers at national level. There are are a few outside of the current squad who impress me but need help. I strongly believe that if I could do local coaching camps for coaches and players, we would see many more 140 kph bowlers in BD.

I do not select the teams or the squad. My role is to prepare each bowler equally so any of them can step into the WC and be winners. Any combination of those 3 bowlers will be great so it just depends on the opposition as to who we play.

No one has perfected it yet but both Shafiul and Rubel have been trying it. Nasmul has such a great slower ball already but I might want him to bowl something else besides the butterfly. My aim is to have the butterfly ready for the WC, but whether the bowlers feel confident enough to try it is another thing!