• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Cricket Web interview with Julien Fountain

James

Cricket Web Owner
We have secured an interview with Julien Fountain who is a fielding coach who has years of international experience having worked with various English counties and the England, Pakistan and West Indies cricket teams over the past 12 years.

His current role is with Middlesex as their CCC Specialist Coach, following on from coaching in the Stanford 2020 competition. We have listed at the bottom of this post all his experience through the years.

We're looking to members to suggest questions we can ask him, so fire away everyone :)

Middlesex CCC Specialist Coach 2008
Worcestershire Academy
Specialist Coach 2008

Stanford 2020
Specialist Coach 2007

West Indies
Assistant & Specialist Coach 2007

England T20 Squad
Specialist Coach 2007

England 'A'
Specialist & Assistant Coach 2007

ECB National Academy
Specialist & Assistant Coach 2007

England Under 19
Assistant Coach & Specialist 2007

England Under 16
Head Coach 2007

ECB National Skill Set
Specialist Coach 2007

ECB Regional Skill Set
Specialist Coach 2007

Worcestershire CCC
Specialist / Assistant Coach 2007

Northamptonshire CCC
Specialist / Assistant Coach 2007

Nottinghamshire CCC
Specialist / Assistant Coach 2007

ECB Level 4
Module Designer & Instructor 2007

ECB Level 3
Module Designer & Instructor 2007

Pakistan Cricket Team
Assistant Coach 2006

Pangbourne College
Director of Cricket 2003 - 2006

Past Experience
West Indies Cricket Team Specialist Coach 1998 - 2001

West Indies Cricket Board
Coach Education Dept 1998 - 2001

West Indies Team
Specialist Coach, Home Series 1999

West Indies Team
Specialist Coach, Australia Tour 2000

Queens Park CC, Trinidad,
Head Coach & Professional 2000

Pakistan Cricket Team
Specialist Coach 2001

Pakistan Cricket Board
National Academy Specialist Coach 2001

Pakistan A Team
Assistant Coach on Sri Lanka Tour 2001

Pakistan Cricket Board
Regional Academy Specialist Coach 2001

England & Wales Cricket Board
Specialist Coach 1996 - 2007

England & Wales Cricket Board
Elite Player Development Dept 1996 - 2007

England & Wales Cricket Board
Elite Coach Education Dept 1996 - 2007

Various First Class & Minor County Teams
1997 - 2007

Various First Class & Minor County Academies
1997 - 2007

Various Schools, Colleges, Universities & International Squads
1996 - 2007

Kutshers Sports Academy, New York
Baseball Coach 1994

Great Britan Olympic Baseball Team
1989-1992 & 2003
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
What is the best method for a fast bowler to attempt to field in the extremely stiff period after a long spell? Should he be hidden in the field? Keep very low to look to pick up the ball? Dive around to avoid a long chase after the ball, etc...
 

roseboy64

Cricket Web Content Updater
What do you get out of being a coach? What fulfillment?



What differences did you experience in the different countries as it relates to facilities, players, management and resources?
 

Athlai

Not Terrible
How has the role of players fitness changed throughout the history of cricket? How different is the standard from 20 years ago, or from 50 years ago?
 

HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Q. Do you think that a cricketer is more likely to be successful if he has natural ability or has mental strength?

Q. Which individual player that you have coached do you feel that you have had the most positive effect on, and what in particular do you think you have helped him with?

Q. If you could give one piece of advice to a youngster looking to take up cricket, what would it be?

Q. There is a lot of talk in the media about 20:20 harming players' technique, and for batsmen in particular. What are your views on this?

Q. How do you measure your success or failure as a coach? Does team success or individual players having success give you more pride?

Q. What do you think the key tools are that a coach has to have at his disposal in order to be successful?

Q. What really really irritates you?

Q. If you were given control over the Laws of Cricket, would there be anything that you would like to change and why would you change it?

Q. What is the most tricky situation you've found yourself in as a coach?

Q. What different problems does coaching in different countries cause - i.e. does coaching in Pakistan present different challenges to coaching in the West Indies, and if so what tangible differences are there?
 

James90

Cricketer Of The Year
Q. What challenges face coaches like Geoff Lawson and Jamie Siddons who have to manage players from different backgrounds to what they're familiar with?

Q. From working with a vast array of teams can you easily identify trends between attitude to training and results?

Q. What impact has the development of new fielding techniques had on the game over the past twenty years?

Q. Do you ever think the workload of a player is too much?

Q. Who is the best fielder you have worked with?
 

Craig

World Traveller
Q What has been the best coaching job/experience you have had and why? It doesn't need to be results based either.

Q Who is the best fielder you have ever seen in international cricket in terms of ability and technique? And is the best in the world right now?

Q What made you take up coaching?

Q Which player and team has been your biggest success story so far? For example a player and a team might be quite poor in the field, yet with hardwork they have turned it around.

Q Who was your mentor in cricket and baseball?

Q What was your first love - cricket or baseball? Or both? And was your family background as well.

Q What is your interests outside of cricket? For example your favourite music, movie etc.
 

NUFAN

Y no Afghanistan flag
If your County was struggling for numbers and you were forced to take the field how do you think you would handle it?
 

armchairumpire

U19 Cricketer
Sometimes you have to work with cricketers who have a reputation for being difficult. What techniques do you use to ensure that you get results?

The media often is very critical of coaches. It seems that if the team does well then it is the great players in the team, and if the team does badly it the fault of the coach. What keeps you going when the team is not winning games?
 
Last edited:

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
How much of a person's fielding skills can be acquired through coaching and how much of it is plain natural ability?



Is it honestly possible to get a guy to throw the ball faster or run across the field faster through training alone?
 

James

Cricket Web Owner
Great questions everyone, I'm going to be sending them off to him within the next 30-60 minutes.

If anyone has a question they want asked but haven't posted yet, please do so soon :)
 

Top