Meet baseball man Mike Young, who sharpens Australia and Deccan Chargers' fielding skills
Meet baseball man Mike Young, who sharpens Australia and Deccan Chargers' fielding skills
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It is interesting to watch the fielding drills of the Deccan Chargers team. Instead of a bat, the fielding coach wields a baseball bat. The comfort with which he hits the ball to long distances show his deftness with the American game.
Mike Young is a baseball man and is the first baseball coach to train a national cricket team. As Australia's fielding coach, he is credited to have fine-tuned the players catching, throwing and positioning skillsu00a0something baseball players are very good at.
Young believes Twenty20 cricket will lift fielding standards further. "I believe if T20 is used properly, it will improve other forms of the sport. You have to be precise in T20. It's all about movement and players will learn that they have to be busy and aggressive," said Young.
While many feel fielding in Twenty20 is tougher, Young says that mentally Test cricket is more challenging.
"Test cricket is really tough as you have to be turned on the full day. It's the very reason why cricket is harder (as compared to baseball) because of the time spent there. In baseball, you are in and out so you have a break mentally and you learn to switch on and off."
Cricket is tougher
It is widely believed that baseball players, being bigger and stronger, make better fielders, but from his experience, Young feels fielding in cricket is tougher. "The one big difference is they don't use the glove. One of the hardest things I have seen in sports mentally is catching in the slips because of the speed of the ball. It changes directions and you don't get a lot of chances. You have to be ready every ball."
So, how does he look at the two games? "They are the only two bat and ball games in the world. The similarities are not precise, there are a little off shoots. I have got the opportunity to work at the highest level in both these games so I can see those things.
"In fielding, there are a lot of similarities how you use your feet when you catch and throw, how you get your eyes in front of the ball."
In the Indian Premier League, Young got the opportunity to work with both Indian and foreign players and assess them. Comparing them, he reckoned the Indians had some catching up to do.
"You field with your mind. Indian players are good but they haven't learnt some things of the mindset. It's all about having fun," said Young, who was twice named International Baseball Federation coach of the year in 1997 and 1999.
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