IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals have appointed former Australian fast bowler Rob Cassell as their new Fast Bowling Coach for the upcoming 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League. Cassell has had good success of working with, and developing fast bowlers at his previous coaching and development roles at South Australia and Ireland men’s cricket team.
During his coaching stint with South Australia, Cassell was instrumental in nurturing and developing their fast bowling talents. The Australian, who represented his country at the 2002 U-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, played a key role in developing the likes of Kane Richardson and Joe Mennie for the Redbacks. He helped the South Australian outfit reach back-to-back Sheffield Shield finals, before moving to Ireland in a dual-role as an Assistant coach and a national fast bowling lead. Since moving to Ireland, Cassell has helped form a quality bowling line-up with the Irish team, including the likes of Tim Murtagh and Boyd Rankin. Cassell has also been involved in bringing about innovation in modern fast bowling with his app “WicketsApp’’, which he introduced in order to help bowlers execute their plans better.
“We are delighted to have Rob Cassell on board as the new fast bowling coach for the upcoming IPL season. We have a great relationship from our days at Victoria together. I have followed his career closely and he is someone who has done the hard yards as a fast bowling coach in his career to date. His pure focus is coaching and under his guidance, several fast bowlers have come through the ranks and succeeded at the top level. His eye for execution and innovation in the game is something that we’re looking to utilise here at the Royals. His varied experience will hopefully prove to be instrumental for our bowling line-up,” said Royals’ Head Coach, Andrew McDonald.
Cassell, who will be working in the Indian Premier League for the first time, commented on his appointment, “I am really excited at the prospect of working with the Rajasthan Royals during this year’s Indian Premier League. The Royals have a great fast bowling set-up with a good mix of Indian and foreign pacers, all of whom bring a lot of quality and potential. I have been following the Royals from afar for quite some time, and I think this is a dynamic, exciting and highly competitive fast bowling line up. I am therefore really excited to chip in with my ideas and help maximise this team’s abilities.”
Steffan Jones, who worked with the Royals in the fast bowling coaching capacity for the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League will continue to work with the franchise, but now as a development coach during the off-season. This enables him to continue to work with the Royals, while retaining his role as Director of Sport at Wellington School. Jones’ off-season development work has already been incredibly helpful and was appreciated by the Royals’ bowlers including Varun Aaron and Jaydev Unadkat. “Steffan Jones is one of the best coaches in cricket with regards to player development. His modern methods, learning from baseball and other sports, have been instrumental in the year round development of our fast bowlers. He will continue to work with our seamers during the off season who love working with him. Rob is a fantastic addition to the franchise and will have a big focus on execution during the season.” said Jake Lush McCrum, COO Rajasthan
Tags: Bowling Coach, Indian Premier League, IPL 2020, Rajasthan Royals, Rob Cassell
