LAHORE: Impressed by the talent and natural ability of the young batters, renowned batting coach Toby Radford hoped to find the next Babar Azam for the Pakistan team through the PCB Pathway programme and the upcoming Pakistan Junior League.

Radford, who coached West Indies during their 2012 ICC T20 World Cup triumph, was appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the Engro Cricket Coaching Project, currently underway at National High Performance Center (NHPC) in Lahore

He was joined by Gordon Parsons (bowling coach) Julian Wood (power-hitting coach), Julien Fountain (fielding coach) and Nick Webb (strength and conditioning coach) at the NHPC last week.

Radford will assume charge of the PJL team Rawalpindi Raiders as their head coach, following the conclusion of Pathway camp this week.

Besides Radford, Parsons will be the head coach for Bahawalpur Royals. Wood and Fountain will also join the coaching panels of PJL teams.

“I have always been a huge fan of Pakistan cricket as the players here have a huge natural ability and flair. I am really excited and look forward to working with these players. In the few days that I have been here, I have seen a lot of talent and it is really all about harnessing the talent,” expressed Rabford as quoted by the PCB.

Talking about young players’ development at the camp, he added, that it was about tightening the players up technically besides helping them tactically and preparing them for different formats.

“The hope is that we will find another Babar Azam, that should be the plan to find some real quality and then to harness that quality. The strength of any senior team around the world is built by what you do at the lower level,” said the batting coach.

At the end of the camp, the participants selected for the six PJL teams will join their respective sides for a pre-tournament camp in the lead-up to the 6 October tournament opener.

Radford is a world-class batting coach who has coached England in this year’s ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies.

The 50-year-old has an extensive expensive of high-performance coaching in Bangladesh and the UK. He also served as  head coach for Glamorgan and Middlesex counties

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