Srinath, Prasad back to school with Lillee

CHENNAI, SEPT 14. Cricket is a huge learning curve. And the men who recognise this reality, reap the rewards. For the rest, it invariably is a rapid slide downwards.

``That's perfect, just perfect,'' shouted Dennis Lillee as Javagal Srinath took the ball away from the right- hander at the MRF Pace Foundation nets.

The Australian fast bowling super coach had the `Big Boys' under him this time around - Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, the pace pair from Karnataka.

Also present, here, on Friday, as another camp got underway, were young pacemen Harvinder Singh and all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Promising left-arm seamers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra are expected to join the clinic on Saturday.

The Indian bowlers, who have travelled to the Chennai- based Pace Foundation following a suggestion from National coach John Wright, are expected to stay here till September 17.

And watching and guiding them along with Lillee will be T.A. Sekar, National selector, and the MRF Pace Foundation's head coach.

When the nets began under the afternoon sun, Lillee was in the thick of things straightaway, his eagle eyes quickly zeroing in on aspects that needed to be corrected. ``Sometimes when you play international cricket without a break, you can develop the odd bad habit. It could be due to the different types of wickets, different kind of balls, or even loss of form. Often small things that can be set right.''

The Australian observed Srinath and Prasad, among his early students in India, were bowling to a nice rhythm, but added he had discussed certain things with them.

Lillee was particularly impressed with Harvinder Singh. ``He looks compact. Technically he is better now than what I've seen of him before. Good action, sharp pace. He was knocking the batsmen over with good outswingers. But you got to translate your bowling at the nets into a match situation.'' On Reetinder, the Aussie noted, ``He is promising, but has to work hard.''

Srinath, approaching 200 Test wickets, was delighted to be back with Lillee. ``Apart from being a great fast bowler, he can impart knowledge wonderfully well. It is so easy for him to pinpoint mistakes. All he does is bring us back to the basics, which is very important. This is a game where you can improve at any stage of your career and you are always a student when you come to Lillee. There is always something to be gained out of him.''

The Indian pace spearhead revealed he concentrated on the away going delivery today. ``In India, we generally reverse swing the old ball, and tend to carry this habit with the new ball as well. Under Dennis, I focussed on putting every ball at the perfect spot and swinging it away.''

Prasad, on the threshold of hundred Test wickets, said, ``some mistake creeps in along the way even at the international level without your knowledge. Dennis is great in analysing one's bowling. He's always given me a lot of confidence. John Wright had given me a specific role of bowling tight, bowling line and length and I am concentrating on it.''

Harvinder said Lillee had advised him to operate nearer the wicket. ``I was bowling slightly wide of the crease and he told me to go closer to the stumps since I had a good outswinger. He wanted me to make the batsmen play every ball.''

And Sodhi, who is striving for that extra yard of pace, thanked the BCCI for providing him with an opportunity to learn from the maestro. ``Lillee asked me to use my left arm, something I was not doing before. I took my non-bowling arm up and then pulled it down straight before releasing the ball, and it went through much quicker. I have to really follow up on this now.''

Incidentally, Wright is extremely keen on Sodhi adding a yard of pace, since he feels the Sardar possesses the other attributes of an all-rounder. The Punjab cricketer felt a slight pain when he tried the new action, but was sure it would disappear once he made this a habit.

Along with the Indian stars were the aspirants from the National Cricket Academy. Young pacemen from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh too were on hand to receive lessons from the ace coach. Experienced former Sri Lankan paceman Promodaya Wickremasinghe has also flown down from Colombo, in his capacity as a coach.

Indeed, it was a busy afternoon for Lillee. He closely monitored every ball sent down at the nets, had words of encouragement when the bowlers got it right, and was quick to make his displeasure known when they erred.

Later, in an informal chat with the cricketers, Lillee stressed on the importance of a well balanced action, the absence of which can lead to injuries.

And it was also nice to see a senior bowler like Srinath, after finishing their stint, spending time with the youngsters, having a close look at their bowling. And the Karnataka paceman was clearly relishing his new role. ``I am doing what Lillee asked me to do,'' he said with a smile.

Well, it was a day when the message came out load and clear - you never ever stop learning. And none symbolised this more than Srinath and Prasad.

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