“You cannot just coach the top 25 cricketers in the country and leave it at that. You have to get the message out into domestic cricket, into school cricket and specifically to the coaches on the ground.” -Photo by AFP

Pakistan’s new fielding coach, Julien Fountain, aims to shift the attention to the under-appreciated area in cricket training.

According to the former West Indies coach, people often forget that elite fielding performances can have an impact in competitions.

“Fielding is a skill, which must be learnt exactly like batting or bowling,” he said in an interview to pakpassion.net, adding that the old days where certain players were allowed to skip fielding practice due to their seniority are long gone.

Appointed by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Fountain’s job scope involves getting players to put more emphasis on executing skills as close to perfect as possible and to train them in a way that creates a push for excellence.

To achieve this, Fountain will design a special training regime for each player after assessing them through a computer programme called “Direct Hit” that collects fielding data, detailing each player’s performance.

He stressed that all players will start on a clean slate under his management.

“We want the players to understand that we have no preexisting thoughts about them. Everybody will be judged on their performance, plain and simple,” he explained.

Coaching alongside Dav Whatmore, Fountain has ambitions for Pakistan’s cricket scene, in addition to plans of propelling the country to the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) tables.

The Australian duo is keen on raising the standards across the country by spreading their message of “High Performance Unit”, a belief that a successful team requires collective dedication from players, staff and officials.

“You cannot just coach the top 25 cricketers in the country and leave it at that. You have to get the message out into domestic cricket, into school cricket and specifically to the coaches on the ground,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Fountain promises to ensure the team is fully prepared for the World Twenty20 in September this year. But he urged the public to be understanding of the mistakes the players will inevitably make as part of their learning process.

He said: “Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day!”