Cricketers have too much power: Eric Simons

June 7, 2012

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When the Delhi Daredevils were knocked out of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League, it came as no surprise that Eric Simons was the one answering the media's heated questions. Why was Morne Morkel left out? Where did Sunny Gupta come from? Not for the first time in his career Simons, as coach, was left carrying the can. When South Africa limped out of the 2003 World Cup following a bizarre misreading of the Duckworth-Lewis par scores, Simons was back in the spotlight, as though he was solely responsible for what happened. Not long ago, every time Ishant Sharma overstepped, television cameras would frame Simons, the bowling coach, allowing the commentators to have a rant. It's no surprise that Simons has strong and independent views about what a coach's role in cricket is and where he'd like to see it go. Excerpts from a chat with Wisden India:

You've been part of the coaching set-up of two international teams. What attracted you to the IPL job?

The franchise itself has values and objectives that appealed to me. We have an amazing group of owners in terms of their attitude towards the game, towards the way we structure the team and what they want to achieve. That's crucially important. What I really enjoyed as a coach was the different cricket cultures and how they worked together. This was important for me to learn, to grow and hopefully to instruct and teach as well.

You've had a successful career outside sport. In that sense, you don't need to coach for money. What's the biggest thing you've learned from your time in India?

It is something that I want to do, not have to do, from that perspective. The thing that I have learned the most... the way we do things in South Africa we're probably a lot closer to the Australian way of doing things and maybe even the English way. We function too much on hype. I've understood that it's not always about hype. It's about calming your mind down and making decisions in the right mental place. In an Indian change-room, music will still be played before a game, but it's more likely to be calming and soothing rather than motivating and hyping. In a South African change-room, it will always be about hype. Hype blows away in a few minutes. I often say that hype is like a cracker that explodes; a bonfire is something that lasts a while. You need to get players in a place where they're not below the line of complacency and they're not above the line of hype. Clear thought. That's the most important lesson I've learnt. Indian cricketers understand this and strive to live in the now and function in the zone where the next delivery is the most important thing to think about. Bigger picture.

Cricket teams today have coaches for every discipline. Is there a risk that we're compartmentalising things too much?

You need comparmentalisation when comes to specific skills. But I don't think coaches are empowered the way they should be. That I think is the future that cricket needs to get to. You still talk about how it's the captain's team and he makes the selections. I don't think it should function like that. Cricket doesn't need to move as far as football, where the coach runs the show, but the ICC needs to move to a place where the coach can communicate with players on the field when play is on. I have no idea why we don't do that already. There's talk about how this communication can be intercepted but this makes no sense to me. At the moment, you have a situation where if the coach is pushing a player and the player is not happy, the coach gets it in the neck and he disappears. That's crazy. It's ridiculous the power that lies with the players in cricket. People should recognise that a coach should have a greater role in decision-making and then he can live and die by his decisions. At the moment, the coach is targetted and focussed on when there's a struggle.

A senior Indian player once told me, "Eric's a wise man. There's not much about life he hasn't seen." Is this how you see yourself?

I am what I am. If someone sees me as wise, then that's what it is. I always stress the fact that I don't coach cricketers, I coach people. My interest lies in people and who they are and what they're about. So, maybe, a lot of conversations I have with guys is about things like that in a broader sense. I have a very lateral thinking mind in the way that life works and I ask some strange questions sometimes to see what reactions I get and to test myself. Cricket coach is what I do, it's not what I am.

In some ways, is the IPL a laboratory of sorts within which there's room for a coach's role to be explored?

What owners need to do is to bring in a coach whose vision they understand and then back him. It is a place where owners can trust their coach. In world cricket, the processes that you have can be quite cumbersome. There are state sides who vote and people who move up administration and everyone has a power stake. It's not possible for a country to appoint a coach and let him run with it. In the IPL, it can be a lot clearer and cleaner. I keep coming back to football... for seven years, Manchester United were not successful under Alex Ferguson but the owners bought into his vision and stuck with him and see where they are today. The IPL is a place where something like that can happen. I saw an interesting dynamic in the IPL when players came back to owners and said "Please buy me." Suddenly we saw the balance of power shift. I don't think the owners of IPL teams fully understand the power they have. The IPL could be a place... It's pushed and stretched the game in so many different areas.

The IPL has also changed how selection happens. In a country set-up, it's all about 3-5 selectors who make the call...

There are several interesting dynamics playing out in the IPL that are unique to the tournament. One is that some players are playing for enormous sums of money and that is added pressure. People who invested the money in them, it's not just about picking the best players but also justifying the price tag. That is a burden that some players bear with great difficulty but others seem to flourish with it. On the other hand, you have international stars for whom selection has never been an issue. They are going to be playing. Suddenly you can only play four foreigners and this puts extra pressure on the players from a selection perspective.

International teams spend so much time together that the players often refer to the team as a family. How is this different in the IPL?

Managing the IPL is part of the challenge as a coach. We have 28 guys and there's a large group that aren't a part of the immediate family. They are important to us and we tell them this and it's not lip service. We have situations where a squad player is injured and you have to call up someone from the extended squad. You have to have people ready but for weeks on end, they can feel excluded. Making them feel a part of the family is very important. It comes down to how the coach manages people. If the communication is good, there shouldn't be too many areas of surprises for the players or the coach. The sport is often let down by the honesty of communications. Every now and then, these reviews come out and all the things that should be said during the year come out at the end of the season. That makes no sense to me. Why not say it when it needs to be said and deal with it when you can? In the IPL, you have a shorter period of time. With a national side you have more time to grow together and come to know each other. You can hide an aspect of yourself for eight weeks, but you can't over two years.

Are players honest enough with themselves about what they can do and what they can't?

I have a few things that I believe are critical in players. One of them is being honest with yourself. The moment you blame someone else for something, it means you can't do anything about it yourself – it's their problem, it's their fault. When you internalise the problem and take ownership of it, it gives you a chance to do something about it. Players who are able to take responsibility for themselves and their performance will be successful for an extended period of time. That comes, I believe, from the fact that the power basically lies with the player. A coach in many cases has to influence players rather than instruct them. Instruction is not a bad thing if it comes from the right place.



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News Network
July 22,2020

Derbyshire, Jul 22: Ahead of the upcoming Test series against England, Pakistan pacer Sohail Khan has credited bowling coach Waqar Younis for teaching him how to swing the ball late.

On the third day of the practice match between Azhar Ali's Team Green and Babar Azam's Team White, the 36-year-old Khan returned figures of five for 50 in 20.1 overs which saw the former fold for 181 in the first innings before they staged a comeback on the final day to win the match by six wickets.

Prior to the practice match, Sohail had a conversation with bowling coach Waqar Younis on the art of late swing. The pacer shared how the presence of the bowling legend in the support staff helped him gear up for the four-day match.

"The conditions in England are swing conducive so every fast bowler gets the ball to move. I asked Waqar bhai to teach me how to swing the ball late. It took him only two minutes to explain it to me. It is because of his tips that I took five wickets in the first innings," Khan said in a release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

"I am eager to learn from Waqar Bhai. I follow him wherever he goes and speak to him about the art of bowling as he has an abundance of knowledge to share. A few days back I was struggling with something while bowling, I thought of reaching out to him and even before I spoke to him about it, he said he knew what I wanted to talk to him about and he explained it to me in a minute," he added.

During Pakistan's tour of England in 2016, Sohail played a crucial role in helping Pakistan secure a 2-2 Test series draw by returning two five-wicket hauls in as many matches.

In total, he picked up 13 wickets at 25 apiece and finished as the third-best wicket-taker.

"Definitely, it is an honour for me to return to the side. I had taken two fifers here against England in 2016 and now in the practice match, I have started off with five wickets so I am feeling very good. We had been at our homes for the past four months due to coronavirus so starting off on a high feels nice," Khan said.

Prior to Sohail's five wickets, 17-year-old Naseem Shah made a big impact when he took five wickets for Team Green. The strength of Pakistan's pace attack was further established as Mohammad Abbas and Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up three wickets each providing valuable support to Naseem and Sohail respectively.
Naseem and Shaheen finished the match with six and four wickets respectively.

Shedding light on the youngsters' performances, Sohail said: "It gives me immense pleasure to see Naseem Shah. He bowls consistently at 150kph. Just like him, Shaheen Shah Afridi is another good bowler. I like both of them."

"It gave me great happiness to see Naseem pick five wickets in the first innings. He is in rhythm and is looking great. What is astonishing is that he is playing in these conditions for the first time but still he is doing so well. Shaheen has also been phenomenal," he added.

Pakistan and England are slated to play three Tests and as many T20Is against each other. The first Test will be played at Manchester from August 5.

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News Network
June 6,2020

New Delhi, Jun 6: Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding has come out in support of MS Dhoni, saying that the wicket-keeper batsman indeed wanted to win the match against England in the 2019 World Cup.

India's performance in the World Cup match against England last year has once again become a matter of debate as all-rounder Ben Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' questioned the intent of the Indian side.

Stokes also said that Dhoni's intent was questionable as he did not go for big shots when India still had a chance to win the match.

However, Holding said that nowadays people tend to write anything in their books.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding said on his official YouTube channel.

"But, to be honest, a lot of people watching that game perhaps wouldn't have arrived to the same conclusion that Ben Stokes arrived at that India were not trying to win," he added.

Holding did say that it seemed like that India did not have the same intensity as they would have had if the match was a do-or-die match.

"It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 per cent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," the former Windies pacer said.

"But I don't think they went with the same intensity of wanting to win the game, say, if it was a do-or-die situation. If it was, we would have seen a different game," he added.

On his official YouTube channel, Holding also said that no team goes in with a set pattern in terms of chasing targets.

In the round-robin stage match against England in Birmingham, India failed to chase down the massive target of 338 and fell short by 31 runs.

That was the only game that India lost in the premier tournament last year before the semifinal loss against the Kiwis.

India's chasing approach, in particular of wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni, was criticised by many, including the fans at home.

As soon as Stokes mentioned Dhoni's lack of intent in his book 'On Fire', Pakistan fans started saying that India deliberately lost the match to knock out their neighbours.

However, Stokes clarified that he never said India lost deliberately and some people were twisting his words.

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News Network
July 9,2020

Tokorozawa, Jul 9: Olympic boxing hopeful Arisa Tsubata is used to taking blows in the ring but it is during her work as a nurse that she faces her toughest opponent: coronavirus.

The 27-year-old juggles a brutal training regime in boxing gloves with long, irregular hours in surgical gloves at a hospital near Tokyo.

Tsubata mainly treats cancer patients but she said the virus was a constant threat, with medical experts warning at the peak of the pandemic that Japan's health system was close to collapse.

"We always face the risk of infection at medical facilities," she said.

"My colleagues and I have all worked under the stress of possibly getting infected."

Like most elite athletes, the virus played havoc with Tsubata's training schedules, meaning she welcomed the postponement of this year's Tokyo Olympics until 2021.

"It was a plus for me, giving me more time for training, although I wasn't sure if I should be so happy because the reason for the postponement was the spread of the infectious disease," she said.

Tsubata took up boxing only two years ago as a way to lose weight but quickly rose through the ranks.

"In a few years after becoming a nurse, I gained more than 10 kilos (22 pounds)," she laughed.

"I planned to go to Hawaii with my friends one summer, and I thought I wouldn't have much fun in a body like that. That is how I started boxing."

She quickly discovered a knack for the ring, winning the Japan national championship and a place on the national team.

But juggling her medical and sporting career has not always been easy and the first time she fought a foreign boxer came only in January, at an intensive training camp in Kazakhstan.

"That made me realise how inexperienced I am in my short boxing career. I was scared," she admitted.

Japanese boxing authorities decided she was not experienced enough to send her to the final qualifying tournament in Paris, which would have shattered her Tokyo 2020 dreams -- if coronavirus had not given her an extra year.

Now she is determined to gain the experience needed to qualify for the rescheduled Games, which will open on July 23, 2021.

"I want to train much more and convince the federation that I could fight in the final qualifiers," she said.

Her coach Masataka Kuroki told AFP she is a subtle boxer and a quick learner, as he put her through her paces at a training session.

She now needs to add more defensive technique and better core strength to her fighting spirit and attacking flair, said Kuroki.

"Defence! She needs more technique for defence. She needs to have a more agile, stronger lower body to fend off punches from below," he said.

Her father Joji raised Arisa and her three siblings single-handedly after separating from his Tahitian wife and encouraged his daughter into nursing to learn life-long skills.

He never expected his daughter to be fighting for a place in the Olympics but proudly keeps all her clippings from media coverage.

"She tried not to see us family directly after the coronavirus broke out," the 58-year-old told AFP. "She was worried."

Tsubata now want to compete in the Games for all her colleagues who have supported her and the patients that have cheered her on in her Olympic ambitions.

"I want to be the sort of boxer who keeps coming back no matter how many punches I take," she said.

"I want to show the people who cheer for me that I can work hard and compete in the Olympics, because of them."

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