Venkatesh Prasad candidate for Aussie bowling coach: report

Following the appointment of Cooley as head of the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, Cricket Australia are looking for a new man to take his place after the World Cup next year, and Prasad offers many of the attributes required, according to a report by 'Australian Associated Press'.

According to the report, Prasad, the ex-bowling coach of the Indian team, has expressed his interest for the job if approached.

"I would certainly consider it, it would definitely be an honour to share your expertise and be part of a very good team in Australia," Prasad said.

"It is nice to know that people are thinking about me as an option," he added.
Prasad, who played 33 Tests between 1996 and 2001, has more recently been employed by the Indian Premier League's Chennai Super Kings, where he worked alongside Australian paceman Doug Bollinger.

As a crafty swing and seam merchant Prasad enjoyed success in conditions as helpful as England and as unhelpful as the subcontinent.

Prasad has shared his lucid thoughts on the Australian bowling attack while commentating on the ongoing India-Australia series on television, and has several points to offer on tactics and also their curious lack of reverse swing.

"They (Australia) have got some wonderful bowlers but they lack the vast experience that they had before. They need to work on more consistency. I feel it is not just about the talent," he said.

"Against a batting line-up of the quality of India's, batsmen who are very good against spin and also on pitches that don't offer much encouragement to the pace bowlers, they were not showing a lot of patience.

"It can be important in those situations to have your plans and wait for things to happen - if you try to do too much you will provide scoring opportunities for the batsmen," said Prasad.

Bollinger apparently made a strong impression on Prasad in their time in Chennai.
"He (Bollinger) is an amazing bowler when he's on the park - he has everything. I saw in the first Test in Mohali that even though he had that difficult lead-in playing in South Africa he was running in hard, hitting the crease and hurrying the batsmen," he said.

"If Ricky Ponting had him at the end of the first Test and for the second Test we might have seen a different result.