The pace makers |
Chennai
Cricket |
 The
reason why I went to the MRF Pace Foundation nets the other day was a delicious
piece of irony: I was answering an SOS from a spin bowler who had run into
trouble with his bowling action and foolishly expected me to help him sort
things out. For those of you who don’t know, the MRF Pace Foundation, the
finishing school for fast bowlers from all parts of the world, is located inside
the premises of the Madras Christian College School on Harrington Road, and
besides the foundation bowlers, the MRF team also practises there. In the senior
division of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) league, it takes part
under the name of Globe
Trotters.
The
Globe Trotters were practising in the hot sun under the watchful eyes of chief
coach T A Sekar and his assistant, the burly M Senthilnathan, one of the more
talented batsmen the state has produced, but also an unfulfilled promise. While
the enthusiasm level of the players, all of them bright youngsters with hope in
their hearts, was hardly surprising, it was quite another matter that Sekar and
Senthil seemed as focused and motivated as their wards.
Sekar
obviously loves his job, with much of his guru Dennis Lillee’s positive
attitude evident in his own demeanour, as he goes about his multitasking role
with practised ease, observing, correcting and constantly shouting words of
encouragement to the bowlers. I first met him a quarter of a century ago, when
he was an impressive young tearaway, and I, already a battle-scarred veteran of
decades of cricket in the tropics. He was a keen but raw young talent, with
precious little idea of the finer points of the game or how to keep fit and be
injury-free.
Sekar has come a long way since
then and is very much the senior pro in the coaching circuit in India. True he
has had the benefit of training under Lillee and the superb support of MRF, who
have invested substantial time and money into the late Ravi Mammen’s dream
project, but he has shown great determination and dedication to get where he has
today and contributed enormously to making the foundation a household name
wherever cricket is played. The care and concern both he and Senthil have for
the boys are demonstrated in every action of theirs on the field.
I asked Sekar how old the
foundation was and he replied with a glint of pride in his eyes: “17 years”.
It struck me then that he did not look a day older than when it all started.
V Ramnarayan
wordcraft@vsnl.com
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