Hubli, August 21: The rains that delayed the start of the KPL 2018 match between the Bijapur Bulls and the Belagavi Panthers here at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium on Tuesday (August 21) came as a blessing for some of the players. They could spent some time with former Australian player Dean Jones, who is doing the commentary for official broadcaster Star Sports, a pioneer of one-day cricket in the mid 80s and 90s.
Taking advantage of Jones' presence in the middle, the Bijapur Bulls players gathered to hear him share some of his vast knowledge.
Jones, one of Australia's great fielders, spent about 20 minutes with the lads and particularly touched on the slip catching process, which given India's slip catching woes these days (with the current Test at Trent Bridge being an exception), was worth its weight in gold.
Congrats to @MitchJohnson398 on a magnificent career! Put bums on seats and scared the living daylights out of batsmen! And on the day he retires ... he works with me on @StarSportsIndia #unlucky 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/fKHExnjT3N
— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) August 19, 2018
Jones shared tips on how to follow the ball from the bowlers' hand, something most coaches too would advise but he also added that the fielders, say at point and cover too, should do the same. By watching the bowler's hand there's a chance of anticipating if the ball would be pitched up or short and that would allow the respective fielder to get that extra edge, was Jones' advice.
Then turning to batting, Jones spoke to the batsmen about the importance of knowing what their good length was, that is he wanted each batsman to identify and mentally mark his good length depending on his individual height. His point being that one must know his good length not the good length.
You can bet the lads were all ears. It was indeed time well spent.