After a gruelling and focussed training session at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai, Dennis Lillee sat down next to Troy Cooley, Assistant Coach and fitness expert and sipped from a bottle of cold mineral water. Warming down after a rigorous session is never easy when everyone is hanging on your words. That's the kind of attention Lillee gets. Speaking to him about fast bowling, coaching and his association with the MRF Pace Foundation, one understood instantly why he is considered one of the greatest coaches of all time. There's a theory that great players don't make great coaches. Obviously, no one's ever told Dennis Lillee about that theory! Here are some excerpts:

How have things changed over the years in your visits to the MRF Pace Foundation?

The key elements are knowledge of the methods of coaching, acceptance of the concepts involved and the facilities provided to implement all this. In each of these aspects there has been a marked improvement each year. Another thing that has happened is the spreading out of the techniques used. What this does is help knowledge filter down to more and more levels.

In your opinion how have things changed in terms of the quality of trainees coming in every successive year?

The key factor in the improvement is that the need for coaching of this kind, the methods used and the techniques are more understood here today than ever before. This is among both players and coaches. What this does is raise the stand of the entry level aspirants. I find that with every year, the youngsters coming through are better in most aspects: fitness, willingness to learn...everything really.

Communication plays a huge role in coaching of all kinds. Has that ever been a problem here at the Pace Foundation in Chennai?

Initially there were doubts that there would be some language problems. But I think that hasn't really been much of a problem. Now, the youngsters not only understand the language better, but they understand the language of the technique better. This makes it much easier for them to relate to what I'm saying.

What about following up on the seminars you do when you're here, the systems you put in place? How does that happen when you're back home in Australia?

Even when I'm not here in Chennai, I'm in regular touch with TA Sekhar. Being in constant touch with him helps maintain the continuity. Without following up things nothing can work really. And if you look at it carefully, the main reason for the success of the MRF Pace Foundation is not me. It's the commitment MRF have shown towards making this one of the best academies around. The staff of the MRF Pace Foundation have always been open to criticism, and they have got their fair share of it from me. That's really important. Because they have taken the criticism well and improved, there's less and less criticism now! As I said before, it's not just the person at the top...

All around the world coaches and academies have been keen to make use of any new technology available. What's your view on using advanced aids to teach the basics?

Well you have to keep abreast with the times really. If you're not up to date with all the technology and techniques of coaching you're going to miss out on a lot of things. This time around we're using `Silicon Coach' a new software that can be used not just in cricket but in any other sport where bio-mechanics plays a large part.

How would you compare the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Australia to the MRF Pace Foundation here?

The key difference between the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy (Australian Cricket Academy) and the MRF Pace Foundation is that they're geared towards different things. The Academy back home in Australia is aimed at the overall development of the game. It looks at all aspects of batting, bowling, fielding, fitness...just about everything really. Over here we're focussed on the quick stuff. It's all about extreme fast bowling. There's also a bit of work done with swing bowling, but the focus is clear.

With every passing year you must be redefining your aims and goals for the academy. What is the focus at this juncture?

The basic focus has remained the same over the years. The main aim is to produce genuine fast bowlers. Actually, you can't really produce fast bowlers can you? It would be more accurate to say our aim is to develop fast bowlers. After all it's not something that happens every day. If it did, we'd have a lot of quicks all over the world!

Every great fast bowler in the history of the game, including yourself, was a master of the mental aspect. How hard is it to teach that to youngsters?

You know, it's not easy to teach a young fast bowler about the mental side of things. We all know that outthinking the batsman plays a big role in successful fast bowling. But to reach a position where you can do that, you must first have all the weapons in your armoury. That includes an inswinger, an outswinger, a good yorker, a slower ball, the ability to move the ball of the wicket... And you need to be able to bowl all this with some degree of control. Basically you need to be able to bowl everything. To get there all these boys need to be at top fitness, top flexibility and at the top of their game. Without top concentration, you can't really pick up the mental aspect from any coach.

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