PCB considering sending players to the US for power-hitting camp

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) could send some of its players to the USA in a bid to expose players to different playing environments as well as explore power-hitting opportunities, confirms head coach Mike Hesson. 

Power-hitting training

The PCB along with the head coach are working on arrangements and shortlisting players who could be sent for the training.

"We're sending some players to the US," Mike Hesson told Cricinfo. 

"There's some power-hitting expertise over there, and we're exploring some options. We've got some players who've had some longer-term injuries, and players we want to expose to different methods of power hitting and just a different learning environment, spending four months in one place to get some new, fresh ideas."

Fitness and training

This is hardly the only change the PCB has alluded to making as they eye overhauling the way fitness, in addition to training, is deemed among players. Earlier, the board made fitness one of the three eligibility criteria for being awarded a central contract. 

The PCB also previously hired Dr Javed Mughal, a UK-based physiotherapist, as Director Sports and Exercise Medicine in line with their increased attention to players’ fitness.

Hesson said Mughal has already started working on the way players train and are examined.

"There's a bit of a collaboration. It's certainly not just strength and conditioning," Hesson said. "We've got Javed Mughal, who's come in here and changed the way players are training and assessing them in a different way. So he needs time to plan it out as well."

Ali Raza among players in consideration

Among the names being considered for the USA programme, young fast bowler Ali Raza is one, provided he is fit enough to meet the demands of the training.

"Pace bowling wise, there's no more injuries [within Pakistan] than there are anywhere else in the world," Hesson said. 

"We're trying to get Ali Raza fit and strong enough to deal with the demands of international cricket. It's tough trying to be able to bowl multiple spells and sustain his pace. We know when he's at his top-end pace, he's exciting. But when the pressure ramps up, the pressure on the body ramps up. So he's got to work on his body so he can deal with those."

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