“The decisions in a team are made by the captain and the coach. The buck stops with them,” said former Australian bowling coach Troy Cooley at the MRF Pace Foundation here on Monday.
He is here with a group of pacemen from Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence.
Cooley was pleased with the appointment of Rahul Dravid as coach of the India `A’ and under-19 teams. “He is a great cricketer himself, sets a good example. He is also someone who listens, has empathy.”
Cooley said the conditions were often not conducive to pace bowling in India and praised the MRF Pace Foundation in this context. “The facilities offered here for the pacemen are excellent. There is good pace and bounce in the practice pitches. This lifts the bowlers.”
He added, “If you do not have pitches with bounce, it will be difficult to motivate the pacemen. In India, they are up against it organically.”
Asked about injuries to pacemen, particularly the younger lot, Cooley said, “I have always said that the younger pace bowlers have a bone structure that does not support overloading. Their workload has to be monitored.”
