Pace lessons - past meets future

"First thing is the run-up. Then the pace of the kid. Then whether they have a cricket brain. Then the fitness. Then how hungry he is. With good fast bowlers you spot these qualities within a few overs." So says Wasim Akram of spotting class, and who's to argue? Fortunately for Pakistan, if belatedly, it is what he has been doing over the last couple of weeks.

Not all the 22 bowlers who turned up at the fast bowling camp needed spotting; Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul came in for some tuning and fine tuning. Others, like the U-19 pair of Anwar Ali and Jamshed Ahmed, came because this is as close to a finishing school as you'll find in Pakistan. A finishing school for pace.

This happy communion of pace past, present and the future at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, is in effect the ground zero of Pakistan cricket. From here, as always, will sprout success. Here is why Pakistan have won nearly a third of all their Tests and more or less a quarter of Tests away. To the east, fast bowling has laboured, and so too winning - India, for example, have won just over a fifth of all Tests and under 15% away from home.

One of 11 player development programmes over the next six months, this camp marked the National Cricket Academy's return to life. About time too: the academy was made non-functional, like the Chief Justice of Pakistan recently, just a year after it began proper in 2005. That is for another day, but it breathes again.

"We had planned this for some time," says Aaqib Javed, the former Pakistan fast bowler and U-19 coach who is now overseeing the camp and NCA operations. "The bowlers are from three levels: U-19, A and academy teams, and senior level. If you can identify some talent from the U-19 and academy groups, then you have a potential pool of back-ups, players on whom more attention should be paid."

Thus Akram was called for identification. Random, globe-trotting and informal sessions with struggling Indian bowlers hint at a happy knack for helping youngsters. As one of the most magnificent of his breed ever, he is a choice as coach or mentor mais naturellement. Not so apparently.

"It's my first time coaching, officially or unofficially. It's good but it's also something you have to get used to, especially concentrating for so long. I'm getting into it but it takes time when you start," he confesses.

Full-time it won't become - the twin necessary evils of TV and business commitments (he's an investor in a high-end sports store) have seen to that. But he's keen to contribute in his own way. And it's not to say that no one else should, or that a bowling coach isn't needed. Akram sits, in this very modern debate, on the side of the coach.

He didn't have one when he was a lanky, big-haired prospect, though he admits he often felt the need. Still, Imran was there to fall back on, as was Mudassar Nazar, a dour opener but a wily swing bowler. It is a similar wetness behind current fast bowling ears that needs looking after in particular.

"Myself and Waqar would help each other and younger bowlers around us. In this team, only Shoaib is experienced and, because of his injuries, he hasn't been around much. With a young team like this, you need someone around, for advice, for tips." Aaqib is more blunt: "What advantage is gained from not having a coach? Give me just one."

Some expertise somewhere is needed, if for nothing else than to clot the myriad injuries their fast men have suffered in recent years. Both Aaqib and Akram have known hospitals and surgeons well, though only four fast bowlers have played more Tests than the latter ("None of them were Pakistani either," he is quick to remind).

"It is a fitness-related thing," says Akram. "If you are fit you will suffer less, if you aren't, you will [suffer] more. Fast bowlers play with niggles anyway, a little twinge or ache, but you just get on with it. Or at least we did." It is here the academy might play its most critical role. Thankfully, Aaqib is already on the case.

In a remarkably forward-looking piece of planning for Pakistan, MRI scans have been taken of the knees of all bowlers at the camp. The idea is to do this regularly, to track not only the effects on the knees as bowlers age and actions are tweaked, but also to pre-empt injuries.

If they can manage that, the future is worth visiting. Fast bowling is as Pakistani as anything in this diverse country. "It is part of the psyche from a young age," offers Aaqib. If it isn't, then tape ball cricket ensures it eventually will be.

If you're inclined to keep track, do so of these men. Mohammad Aamir, a 16-year old from Rawalpindi is Akram's pick; naturally, he's left-arm. He's played U-19 and an academy place awaits. Aaqib approves and adds Sohail Tanveer, another left-armer, who's been around and who is "deceptively quick."

And what would a Pakistan pace camp be without a really speedy prospect? Mohammad Irshad's star rose, dipped and is now, according to Aaqib, rising again "He's a much-improved bowler now. He's still got good speed, touches 90 [mph], and has great body language." As do they all.