Baseball can help cricketers improve throwing skills: Rhodes

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Cricketers can take help from a fielding coach with a strong baseball background like Mike Young to improve their performance on the field especially throwing skills, former South Africa player Jonty Rhodes today said.

The 42-year-old, who is the fielding coach of IPL franchise outfit Mumbai Indians, also rued that the art of throwing the ball was not taught to him as a youngster, adding it was one area where baseball can definitely help cricket.

"I think the key with (taking the help of) baseball is throwing. I think that's one area we (cricketers) don't work on. I have tried really hard to change that. I have spoken a lot with Mike Young when I was the fielding coach of South Africa and he was coaching Australia," Rhodes said.

The Chicago-born Young went to Australia in the early 1980s to continue his career as a baseball coach and also led the nation's squad to a 5th-place finish, it's best-ever then - in the Seoul Olympic Games - before Cricket Australia engaged him as a fielding coach for its squad in 2000.

"The impact baseball can have and (the advantage) in having a guy like Mike Young (with you), is that you can improve your throwing. I think baseball can make a huge contribution to the way cricket players throw," said Rhodes.

"That's the best way to save 3s to 2 or 2s to 1. If someone has got a strong throw, players (rival batsmen) don't take them on (while running between the wickets). "That's (throwing) one area I never got coached. No technique is taught to kids (in cricket) about throwing ...if you can catch the ball and throw it's good enough.

"And I have done a lot of work in India with Mumbai Indians and also have my own coaching academy, but the biggest downfall is the throw," said the South African, who used to mesmerise spectators with his acrobatic catching, diving stops and fleet-footedness at backward point.