ANTIGUA: CRICKET/BASEBALL: Baseball meets cricket as baseball coach Mike Young helps train the Australian cricket team

To baseball fans it looks like a scene out of spring training. A coach hitting routine ground balls on a sunny morning. And fielders practising the fundamentals of the game; defensive drills for catching and throwing. To the cricket fan though, something is wrong. The fielders are cricketers and the coach is hitting balls to them with a baseball bat. Mike Young, a U.S. baseball coach from Chicago, is training Australia's fielders to win on the World Cup cricket field. "A lot of footwork, we talk a lot about footwork. We talk about working in straight lines, throwing mechanics, how they throw the ball from what angles and things like that so that's what we try and do. So basically we just keep it basic and simple. Eyes, hands, balance. Things like that," says Young, adding that much is similar when you are a fielder in cricket and baseball. Young started travelling outside the United States early, landing a playing contract in Holland out of college. Then he played in Australia and began coaching there. Then he alternated between Australia and the United States, moving from baseball season to baseball season. In the U.S. he began managing affiliates to some of the Major League teams like Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and then managed two "A" ball teams for the Cleveland Indians. Back in Australia he managed the team that played for Australia in the Seoul Olympics, and in 1997 and 1999 he was voted International Baseball Association coach of the year. Young got to know Australian cricket coach John Buchanan while coaching the Australian national baseball team for the Athens Olympics. Captain Ricky Ponting asked Young to join the squad for the 2003 World Cup as a fielding coach and he has been with the team since. Young says he enjoys his new profession and has great respect for the players he coaches. "I love it. I love it. And now they got the 20-20 format which I'm very impressed with. It's going to take the game to another level again. Listen, these guys are fantastic athletes and they are showing in this particular tournament, the good teams are really showing that they can bat, score a lot of runs, and run and throw." Young managed four years with Australian baseball teams and had a .625 winning percentage with two clubs. He also won the national championship one season with the Queensland Rams. He also works at Australia's cricket Centre of Excellence, a training ground for the country's best cricketers. And he rates Australia's team members at a major league level. "All of these guys, had they played in America, would have played professional baseball. Now what level they would have gotten to is dependant. But they would have definitely had the ability to play at the professional level," he said. Every ball counts in the short format matches of the cricket World Cup. The games are limited to 300 "pitches" or fifty overs, depending whether you understand baseball or cricket terminology. Young's hope is that Australian fielders will catch and cover every one in a defence that matches Australia's powerful batting and bowling campaign.

ITN Source | April 7, 2007

Tags:. .simple. .baltimore. .jays. .indians. .score