Mumbai turns to Australia legend Jeff Thompson to bring back glory days

Mumbai cricket has been going through a tough phase of late. There used to be a time when Mumbai churned out major talents and was a major supplier for Indian cricket. However, while, the supply has still been there in the batting department, it’s the quality bowlers that have been missing from the list. It seems that the Mumbai Cricket Association has finally realised the importance of bowling talent development in Mumbai and have announced the launch of MCA-IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation. The foundation has been established to hone meritorious talent and develop them into first-rate bowlers to boost the domestic and international cricketing landscape in India. [caption id=“attachment_2335356” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Jeff Thompson, the legendary Aussie fast bowler. Getty Images.[/caption] More importantly, the big announcement is that they have roped in former Australia pacer Jeff Thompson for a period of two years to coach the budding fast bowlers. One of the most lethal fast bowlers of 1970s who terrorised the opposition batsmen with his pace and ended up with 200 Test wickets. Thompson has had coaching experience too having coached Queensland for five years. This announcement brings some hope for Mumbai cricket. This foundation is on the similar lines of the Bombay Cricket Association-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme which brought about a revolution in early 1990s. The scheme had roped in former England pacer Frank Tyson and he played an integral part in revival of Mumbai cricket. The Bombay Cricket Association-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme helped churn out bowlers like Abey Kuruvilla, Salil Ankola, Paras Mhambrey, Sairaj Bahutule which formed the core of Mumbai’s bowling attack and helped them win the Ranji Trophy after a gap of nine years in 1993-94 and also went on to represent India. Makarand Waigankar - cricket journalist and talent spotter - who played pivotal role in setting up the BCA-Mafatlal Bowling scheme is the mastermind behind setting up of the MCA-IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation. Honorary joint secretary Dr. Unmesh Khanvilkar reminisced how Kuruvilla’s rise came about via the Bombay Cricket Association-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme. “Kuruvilla was just bowling bouncers in the nets. Waigankar sir told him - you have to come and meet for further meetings - Kuruvilla politely said I have 3 pm movie tickets. See the commitment of Waigankar sir, he took his number and then called him back for next level of selection and after that he played Ranji and international cricket.” Mr. Waigankar further added, “On 15 October 1990 we started BCA-Mafatlal Bowling scheme, on 27 December, 1990 Abey Kuruvilla emerged from nowhere and within two and half years on 13 March he was making his debut in the Ranji Trophy final.” The foundation will focus on spotting and grooming talent from untapped areas. “This scheme will help unearth talent. If you see, the inter-college or the inter-school tournaments are restricted only to Mulund. In Eastern and Western suburbs there is a lot of talent so we have to spot the talent there too. So if we can take some cricketers from there it will be of great help to Mumbai cricket. We believe there is a lot of talent in Dahanu, Badlapur, Belapur, New Bombay, all those areas, we have to spot them and groom them which will surely help Mumbai cricket in future,” MCA vice president Dilip Vengsarkar who also played against Thompson in 1970s told Firstpost. MCA selectors will select a maximum of 30 fast bowlers and 30 spinners in the 19 and above age group to be a part of the MCA-IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation. The training will commence from July 13, 2015, and will continue until May 31, 2017. The training for these bowlers will be held at the Sharad Pawar Indoor Stadium, formerly known as the MCA Club, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai, throughout the year. The MCA-IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation plan will be implemented in consultation with the Head Coach of the MCA Academy Chandrakant Pandit. Balvinder Singh Sandhu, the former Indian pacer and a member of the 1983 World Cup winning Indian team, will head the panel of Bowling Foundation coaches. John Gloster who was the physio of the Indian team when John Wright and Greg Chappell were the coaches, has been appointed Fitness Consultant. The visiting coaches will be interacting with the bowlers periodically. The foundation will also equip bowlers with cricketing attire like shirts, trousers, training t-shirts and shorts. “To win first class and international matches, bowlers need to be trained properly and this initiative will help Mumbai young guns. We earlier had Dennis Lillee, Glenn McGrath coming to India and training young bowlers at the MRF bowling foundation. Now we have Thompson guiding the young Mumbai bowlers become future stars,” Vengsarkar added. Jeff Thompson, on his appointment with the MCA-IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation, said, “I have accepted this responsibility with huge excitement and pleasure as I am always willing to pass on the knowledge I have obtained over the years. I hope to develop bowling talent in the domestic and international cricketing circuits for India. Look forward to being on board.” After the BCA-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme, this is the first kind of bowling foundation formed in Mumbai. There is genuine sense of hope and also excitement that just like the successful BCA-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme, the MCA-IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation might bring back the glory days for Mumbai and churn out talents that would go on to be successful in international arena.