India’s premier pace bowling foundation, MRF, on Tuesday entered into a five-year agreement with the BCCI to train and hone the skills of the Cricket Board’s contracted pacers at the academy here.
As per the “historic deal”, the board will send its current and upcoming pacers to the academy to train under the Director of the Pace Foundation, the legendary Glenn McGrath.
“This is a great moment. The association between the BCCI and the MRF Pace Foundation will hugely benefit Indian cricket in the long run,” said an elated BCCI interim president Shivlal Yadav.
ADVERTISEMENT
Started under the tutelage of Dennis Lillee, the pace foundation has served as a breeding ground for many an Indian medium-pacer since the last 27 years of its inception in 1987.
Former Australian pacer McGrath, who stepped in Lillee’s shoes in 2012, said it’s a great honour to take the legacy forward.
“It has been a wonderful couple of years for me at the MRF Pace Foundation. I now eagerly look forward to working with India’s best at the foundation. Our facilities compare favourably with the best in the world and I am eagerly looking forward to this challenge.” said McGrath.
ADVERTISEMENT
Also speaking on the occasion, Chairman and Managing Director MRF Limited K M Mammen said, “For the last 27 years, the MRF Pace Foundation has worked with a single minded focus of producing pace bowlers for India. Everything we have done at the Pace Foundation, in terms of the tie-ups we have entered into, the infrastructure we have invested in, the staff we have trained, has been planned with this single objective in mind.”
“We are extremely proud of what we have achieved so far.
17 of our trainees have played for the country, taking over 2,000 international wickets. Today, we are proud to announce the official partnership between the BCCI and MRF Pace Foundation to train pace bowlers for India. This new agreement will help us work together even more effectively to produce great results,” he added.