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Semmence to coach Rajasthan's junior teams
England's Derek Semmence has been appointed to train the junior cricket teams in Rajasthan in a bid to improve the standard of the game.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:52 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Jaipur:
England's Derek Semmence has been appointed to train the junior cricket teams in Rajasthan in a bid to improve the standard of the game among the youngsters. The desert state has not produced a single Test cricketer for over 30 years and has not played even the quarterfinals in any age group for the past five years. Semmence, who was Sussex coach for past two decades, is a firm believer in the ''catch-them young'' philosophy. Over 60 years himself, Semmence is keen to shape a better generation of cricketers for Rajasthan. "Cricket is my life and I love coaching youngsters. Under-15 is a very important age and they will hopefully be the players of the future. So it's a big challenge," said Semmence. "I am a bit of a traditionalist. I think a lot of the new ideas are very good, but I believe a lot of the old ideas are also very good. So I will try to harness the two together," he added. Focus on fitness, fielding While he admits improving batting and bowling skills are crucial, Semmence says fitness and fielding are the key to success in modern cricket. While the boys are now sweating for over two hours daily on fielding and physical exercises, they seem thrilled with their new guru. "Till now, I used to be square while batting. But after his tips, I have started batting straight. I feel our fielding will also improve as he is giving us lots of drills to increase our agility," said a trainee. "He has given different drills to openers and middle order batsman. His tips will help our batting and fielding both," said another trainee. Three-year stint Semmence has been brought in by RCA President Lalit Modi, who dislodged the four-decade long Rungta monopoly in Rajasthan cricket. And his three-year coaching stint is aimed at fulfilling Modi's promise to produce five Test cricketers from Rajasthan in the next five years. It's not just in Ranji trophy, but also in junior cricket that Rajasthan has been flopping for many, many years. But hopefully the new coach imported from England will help revive the cricketing fortunes of a state that's currently among the weakest in the country.Topics mentioned in this article
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