Former Welsh cricketer Steffan Jones, in an interview with OneIndia, emphasized India’s massive cricket market as a key focus for his PaceLab initiative. He shared insights from his training sessions with Ishant Sharma and stressed the importance of using weighted balls to improve bowling strength. Jones also reflected on his journey with the Rajasthan Royals and hinted at possible future involvement with the team in the 2025 IPL.
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00:00fast bowler development program in India. Because that's what I can do, I can develop fast bowlers.
00:06The mindset that the more you do, the harder you work, the better you get. Unfortunately,
00:12that might be okay for batting, but for bowling, it doesn't work like that. There will always be
00:16a talented bowler coming, Umra Malik, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, you know, these guys are
00:21coming through. But the key is developing them. The key is nurturing through, giving them the
00:26right information so they can achieve the potential that they clearly have. So my tip to
00:32all bowlers, they need to sprint more, they need to throw more medicine balls, they need to jump
00:38more, and they need to bowl weighted balls. This gym stuff is supplementary. And then from there,
00:44you need to learn the craft, the game awareness. So here we are with Stephen Jones. First of all,
00:50he's a former player, a former high-performance bowling coach of Rajasthan Royals. And now his
00:59own endeavour, PaceLab, is doing wonders for Indian cricket and roping in top talents,
01:05where their main aim is to enhance a fast bowler's career and their trajectory through biomechanics
01:12and other scientific programs. So Stephen, first of all, thank you very much for talking with me.
01:17Pleasure.
01:18So how has been, you've been a professional cricketer, you've worked in IPL in various
01:24schools as well, if I'm not wrong. How did the PaceLab concept start in your mind?
01:31Okay, so when I played, so I played for 20 years professionally, and I was also a professional
01:36rugby player. So I was very much grown up with high performance, physical training,
01:43strength and conditioning, power work. But for me, there was a sort of something missing in that
01:48we weren't testing it. You need to plan the direction of travel, you need to know where
01:54you currently are. So I test everything and technology in the world now is incredible.
01:59So we need to know where the current bowler is sat, where they are physically, technically,
02:04tactically, psychologically. Then from there, then I can tailor an individual program for the fast
02:12bowler based on their needs. Every bowler has a different style, there's no point copying a
02:18certain bowler. No, they have an individual style. And then the key is to make sure that the technique
02:24and the strength and conditioning is right for that individual bowler. And that's what PaceLab
02:28does differently to everyone else.
02:30So we've seen already Indian PaceLab, Isham Sharma is working here in Bangalore, and I'm
02:35sure that you have multiple projects around India, all over the world as well. So how,
02:40what have the ecosystem of bowling in India, you have seen, especially for pace bowling, because
02:44we have seen that we have some top quality paces, just Bhumrah, Muhammad Shami, but we have also a
02:50lot of talented paces who have kind of faded away. So what is the reason, do you think behind that
02:57and how you are aiming to have a change in that?
03:00So for me, I would, I'll say it straight away now, I would love to be in charge of fast bowler
03:07development program in India, because that's what I can do. I can develop fast bowlers, you know,
03:13the IPL and the top level, they're already good. You know, the next level down, and I know Troy
03:19Cooley and the NCA does a great job. I'm here to help. So the problem in India, as people,
03:26the work ethic is exemplary. It's an example to everyone in the world, the work ethic, but with
03:32that becomes the mindset that the more you do, the harder you work, the better you get.
03:38Unfortunately, that might be okay for batting, but for bowling, it doesn't work like that.
03:43So bowling for two hours a day is not healthy. So, but it has to be smart with what we're trying
03:49to achieve. So I think there's a mixture in India, as everywhere in the world, where some bowlers are
03:56over-bowled, while others are under-bowled. We spend too long in the gym and not actually
04:02bowling. So fast bowling is about intensity. Nothing we can do in the gym will match the
04:08intensity in bowling. So it's, my big thing is planning, is periodization. So, so much talent,
04:15but, but Indian bowlers, it can't be about the volume of bowlers. You know, there will be,
04:20always be a talented bowler coming, Umra Malik, Huldim Sen, Navdeep Saini, you know,
04:24these guys are coming through, but the key is developing them. The key is nurturing through,
04:30giving them the right information so they can achieve the potential that they clearly have.
04:36There is always room for improvement, as you rightly say. But one, one more thing that we
04:40have seen, we saw that Ishaan Sharma is doing various drills, curated, personalized. What,
04:46what, what is the, what was the main, you know, program of his training, if you can elaborate?
04:52So I've, I've helped Ishaan on and off, uh, since he was playing test cricket, actually,
04:58I think about seven or eight years, but on and off, because I then go to the Royals and he's,
05:03so it's difficult then to, but so Ishaan is clearly a legend. He's only two bowlers,
05:08seamers in India. We've got over a hundred tests, Kabil Dev and Ishaan. So there's nothing I can
05:14teach him bowling. He knows what a good delivery is. What I can do is look at his technique,
05:20make sure we can sort of fine, fine tune his sequencing, his timing. As you get older,
05:28timing is different because we get older. It's a bit, you know, the body's a bit broken. So
05:33the key for him is maintaining his freshness, his sharpness. He looks lean. He looks really
05:39fighting fit and he's a knee dominant bowler. So it's important that we maintain strength.
05:45If Ishaan loses strength, he loses pace. So this last year, he bowled 145. And that's a,
05:52that's good pace for someone his age and someone his workloads. So it's about managing workload,
05:58managing intensity and making sure he's fresh enough to bowl. Ultimately, that's his skill.
06:04He's a bowler. I've seen that you're working with a lot of next-gen bowlers, youngsters as well.
06:10What is the, what is the main thing that you think a general Indian pace bowler who is aspiring to
06:15be a pace bowler will have to work on from early ages? What are the main things that
06:19they have to focus on? So that's, that's a great question for me. Okay. Because of the
06:25physical education programs in India, a lot of the bowlers haven't got physical literacy,
06:32athletic development. So you have a foundation of movement. You need to be able to move. There's no
06:37point me coaching a bowler to sort of on back foot contact four times their body weight on
06:42front foot contact eight to nine. If they can't stand on one leg, you know, their knee valgus,
06:47their knee collapses. And that's built. If, if in these big centers, we are doing sort of the
06:55general prep work with 20 year old athletes, it's too late. That needs to be in school.
07:02And then from there we give athletic development. So speed wins. So my tip to all bowlers,
07:08they need to sprint more. They need to throw more medicine balls. They need to jump more
07:14and they need to bowl rated balls. This gym stuff is supplementary. And then from there,
07:20you need to learn the craft, the game awareness, when to bowl slower balls, not enough bowlers,
07:25just people from Malinga can bowl Yorkers, they can. But why are we struggling for to find bowlers
07:32who can bowl Yorkers? So our training has to be more relevant. You've worked with Rajasthan Royals
07:38in the IPL as a high performance bowling coach, if I'm right. And how was the experience? How
07:43has the IPL experience been for you? Incredible. I love that. The timing of it was great for me.
07:51Ultimately, the Rajasthan Royals through Rahul Dravid took a gamble because I wasn't in cricket.
07:56I was a director of sport at a private school. But they saw something in me and I was employed
08:01as a bowling coach in 2019. Loved it. But unfortunately, because of my role as director
08:07of sport, I couldn't commit fully. But the last two years, I've been in the IPL. I prepped them
08:13to the tournament, spent two or three weeks in the tournament, making sure they're ready to go.
08:19Then I go home. I love that role. I love developing them, looking after them year round.
08:26Great setup. And for me, with Rahul Dravid there, it's only one way out.
08:30With Rahul Dravid coming back to Rajasthan Royals again, is there another chance we are going to
08:35see you again in the IPL 2025? Not 2025, but moving forward, they have my number.
08:42Thank you very much, Stephen, for your interview. Really hoping that you can
08:46make a dynamic change in Indian baseball. Yeah, I'm trying. Thank you very much.
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