Baseball can help cricketers improve throwing skills: Rhodes

u00a0 Cricketers can take help from a fielding coach with a strong baseball background like Mike Young to improve their performance on the field especially throwing skills former South Africa player Jonty Rhodes today saidu00a0 u00a0 The 42yearold who is the fielding coach of IPL franchise outfit Mumbai Indians also rued that the art of throwing the ball was not taught to him as a youngster adding it was one area where baseball can definitely help cricketu00a0 u00a0 quotI think the key with taking the help of baseball is throwing I think that39s one area we cricketers don39t work on I have tried really hard to change that I have spoken a lot with Mike Young when I was the fielding coach of South Africa and he was coaching Australiaquot Rhodes told PTI hereu00a0 u00a0 Mumbai Indians39 fielding coach Jonty Rhodes believes baseballu00a0can improve cricketers39 fielding u00a0 The Chicagoborn Young went to Australia in the early 1980s to continue his career as a baseball coach and also led the nation39s squad to a 5thplace finish it39s bestever then in the Seoul Olympic Games before Cricket Australia engaged him as a fielding coach for its squad in 2000u00a0 u00a0 quotThe impact baseball can have and the advantage in having a guy like Mike Young with you is that you can improve your throwing I think baseball can make a huge contribution to the way cricket players throwquot said Rhodesu00a0 u00a0 quotThat39s the best way to save 3s to 2 or 2s to 1 If someone has got a strong throw players rival batsmen don39t take them on while running between the wickets That39s throwing one area I never got coached No technique is taught to kids in cricket about throwing if you can catch the ball and throw it39s good enoughu00a0 u00a0 quotAnd I have done a lot of work in India with Mumbai Indians and also have my own coaching academy but the biggest downfall is the throwquot said the South African who used to mesmerise spectators with his acrobatic catching diving stops and fleetfootedness at backward pointu00a0 u00a0 Rhodes who took a quintet of amazing catches in an ODI against the West Indies at the Cricket Club of India here during the Hero Cup Tournament in November 1993 to earn the man of the match award said fielding has changed dramatically from his days as a playeru00a0 u00a0 quotThe key change for me is that the specialist fielder used to be the guy fielding at backward point covers or in the slips in a Test but now a specialist fielder is the one who fields on the boundary saving the fours and sixes and making sure the twos are translated down just to a singleu00a0 u00a0 quotThe specialist fielder of a team is no longer at backward point or in the covers You can39t have just two or three specialists You got to have everybody contributing Because the guys are playing some amazing shots and the ball goes to every part of the fieldquot said Rhodes who played 52 Tests for the Proteas from 1992 to 2000u00a0 u00a0 Rhodes who played 245 ODIs and retired after the 2003 World Cup held in his home country said Mumbai Indians39 new entrant Robin Petersen as an outstanding fielder with ambidextrous abilities which is very rareu00a0 u00a0 quotRobin Petersen is a good fielder We are fortunate he has come to join us MI Petersen is one of the few players in cricket who can throw with right and left hand He39s a pretty useful guy to have in the covers He hasn39t got a weak arm he can run tooquot he remarkedu00a0 u00a0 He did not think developing ambidextrous abilities like Petersen was the way forward in cricket quotNo I don39t think so It39s too big an ask I don39t think it39s a skill you need to work on For me in fielding the important part is your feet If you have fast feet you naturally get around to the ball quicker whether you are right handed or left handed It ambidextrousness is an advantage if you can do it at speedquotu00a0 u00a0 Asked what precautions needed to be taken to prevent injuries while fielding Rhodes replied quotI think the one precaution you need to take is not to take precaution quotGuys who are hesitant to dive and hit the ground softly do more damage to themselves if they land on their knees or on their shoulders If a player is running at speed and he39s diving at full speedthe momentum will take him through most of the injuriesquotu00a0 u00a0 Rhodes said his role model as a fielder was onetime senior teammate Peter Kirsten who used to field where he later specialised in and became a legend gully and backward point quotMy role model was Peter Kirsten In South Africa because of the sporting isolation and also because of lack of television coverage I never got to see another SA fielding legend Colin Bland playquot