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Ian Pont
Ian played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire and Essex and overseas cricket for South African side Natal during the 1980’s. He was a fast bowler, attacking batsman and had a superb throwing arm
He has the unusual feat of taking 5 wickets on Essex debut against Somerset and in his final first-class appearance against Surrey. He was probably best remembered for the sensational run out of Chris Broad in the 1985 Nat-West Final – undoubtedly the turning point of the game – which Essex went on to win by a single run
Essex CCC 1988
Ian has the second longest recorded throw of all time – a mammoth 138 yards (126.18m) or 414 feet – set in Cape Town. A string of run out batsmen, can vouch for his ability to throw quickly and accurately
Not surprisingly then, he had professional baseball trials as a pitcher with 6 Major League Teams in 1987. Clocking speeds around 100 mph, he attracted interest from the Philadelphia Phillies. At Major League Spring Training he started as lead pitcher in a professional game for the Phillies making Ian the only modern professional cricketer to play in a professional baseball match
In 1992 his company, Hogger Sports, secured the contract to supply World Cup coloured cricket clothing. The following year, Ian helped negotiate the contract for coloured cricket clothing in the AXA Equity & Law League and cricket played in colour was born in the UK
Ian launched his coaching company Mavericks Cricket (MCI) in 1993 using Advanced Biomechanics methods. Ian’s insistence on pace and accuracy training (ABSAT) has led him to become one of the top bowling coaches for the development of club, county and international players
In 2005 Ian worked with Essex CCC for 3 years as Bowling Coach as well as Assistant Head Coach to The Netherlands, helping take the Dutch to the 2007 ICC World Cup in the West Indies, were they played Australia and South Africa
Prior to 2009, Ian has worked as ECB National Skill Sets Coach, specialist coach to Worcestershire Academy, invited coach to Nashua Dolphins provincial team in South Africa and MRF Pace Academy in Chennai in India.
Ian is Head Coach to the International Cricket Camp, Potchefstroom, South Africa, which takes place each December and features world-class coaches like Corrie Van Zyl, Gary Kirsten, Graeme Pollock and Jimmy Cook. This camp is now regarded as the very best of it's kind for developing technical and mental skills for fast bowling and batting
Ian has also been a specialist Fast Bowling Coach to the professional squad and academy at Northamptonshire CCC since 2008
Ian travels internationally to host coach education courses and help others deliver the correct fast bowling skills players need to improve
One of these skills is being able to bowl top quality slower balls. Ian spends a lot of time working with one-day and 20/20 bowlers which is why his latest creation The SLOB (also know as The World's Best Slower Ball) has been received so well around the world
Ian’s fast bowling manual, The Fast Bowler’s Bible, came out to great reviews. He remains one of the most highly-regarded coaches in the world with an innovative approach on helping bowlers develop more speed and accuracy simultaneously
His latest book Coaching Youth Cricket which covers all cricket disciplines is due to be published internationally in Summer 2010