Julien Fountain

Fountain was born in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, and started his cricket career as a medium pace all rounder (he later switched to wicket keeping because of his preference for fielding) for Somerset within their youth development teams. He was selected to play in the Somerset Under 19 team aged only 15 due to an injury to the regular wicket keeper. He was removed from the squad at the end of the season in 1987.

In need of a fresh challenge, he decided to take up baseball, having watched the 1987 World Series between the Minnesota Twins and the St. Louis Cardinals. In July 1988 Fountain was selected to represent Great Britain U19 Baseball Team at the European Championships in Bordeaux, France, having only played baseball for six months. The following year he made his debut for the full Great Britain National Baseball Team, still aged only 19. He represented Great Britain, as part of the British Olympic Squad in the European Baseball Championships in 1989 in Paris, France and again in 1991 in Rome, Italy. Fountain represented Great Britain as a pitcher between 1988 and 2002.[3]

In 1989, Fountain played as part of the British Olympic Baseball Team versus an MLBPA – Major League Players Alumni Legends team at Old Trafford Cricket Ground. The Legends team was composed of household names Bert Campaneris, Doug DeCinces, Bob Feller, Mark Fidrych, Tim Foli, George Foster, Jerry Grote, Mike Hargrove, Tug McGraw, Graig Nettles, Lary Sorensen, Willie Stargell, Rennie Stennett, Luis Tiant, Roy White, Billy Williams, and Al Oliver.

During this period he also attended several professional tryouts with Major League Baseball teams including the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox and New York Mets. He approached a number of US universities, with the intention of taking up a scholarship, but was rejected. He continued playing in the UK whilst attending Thames Valley University in London.

In 2002, he was recalled to the Great Britain Baseball Team, to add strength and experience to their pitching staff during a qualification tournament in Stockholm, Sweden.

In 1998 Fountain had hoped to become part of the coaching staff for the full England team, under David Lloyd, however an offer was not forthcoming despite having successfully coached extensively around the County Cricket circuit as a specialist fielding coach; so when he was approached by the West Indies Cricket Board to coach The West Indies 'A' Team in Antigua, he jumped at the chance as this would allow him to finally coach at the highest levels of cricket.

Having run a successful pre-tour clinic in Antigua with West Indies "A" he was asked to accompany the full West Indies cricket team on their tour of South Africa[1] and the WICB Advanced Course in Trinidad and Tobago, he was ecstatic as he was able to flourish as a coach, working with some of the world's best cricketers. Unfortunately, his tour was cut short due to the impending players strike. However, following this introduction he was retained as part of the West Indies back room staff under head coach Malcolm Marshall. He was labelled as "essential" by Tony Cozier,[6][7] a well-respected cricket journalist. He rejoined the senior team in Jamaica for the second Test and achieved fantastic results immediately,[8][9] culminating in a fantastic series finish in Barbados.[10] It was during this series that he established himself as a leader in his field even claiming to have fixed Courtney Walsh's throwing arm.[11]

He accompanied the West Indies Cricket team to the UK for the Cricket World Cup however the team's performance was unfortunately overshadowed by the sudden illness of head coach, Malcolm Marshall.[12]

In 2000 following his successful involvement with the West Indies in the Caribbean and the Cricket World Cup he was appointed as head coach, at Queens Park Cricket Club in Trinidad and he combined coaching with playing for the club throughout the 2000 season. During his tenure he oversaw the development of exciting new talent such as Dwayne Bravo and Devon Smith. It was whilst performing this role he was again contracted by the WICB to coach the senior West Indies team,[13] for a preparatory camp,[14] in Jamaica before joining them as their specialist fielding coach on their tour of Australia.

Whilst at the National Performance Centre in September 2007, Fountain, after a recent research trip to the US, brought the concept of using the Pro Batter Video Simulator Pitching Machine for cricket to the attention of Peter Moores and David Parsons. He introduced the company, Pro Batter Sports, to the England & Wales Cricket Board and in 2010 Pro Batter completed the installation of two units at the National Performance Centre at Loughborough.[28] It was not until Dene Hills, an Australian Cricket Coach, joined the ECB in late 2008, as batting coach, that they finally got in touch with Pro Batter regarding the possibility of using the machines for cricket; something Fountain had identified over a year before.[29]

Late 2007 Fountain was contacted by the Stanford T20 Cricket organisation, who had established professional teams in Antigua, Nevis, St Lucia and Anguilla. He spent a few weeks not only assessing and coaching these newly formed professional teams, but conducting a complete audit of each organisation, looking at coaching, facilities, players and every aspect of their day-to-day operations. It was also at this time, and following the guidelines of the McLaurin Report, that England decided that they should hire a full-time fielding coach and despite his long standing involvement with the ECB, going back over 10 years, and his extensive international resume, which at that time had three full international teams and countless worldwide professional teams on it, was pipped to the post by part-time cricket coach, PE Teacher and Director of Sport at Wellington College Richard Halsall who was more familiar to the newly appointed England Head coach, Peter Moores, due to his link with Sussex County Cricket Club .[30]

In 2008, the Stanford relationship was to prove crucial, as Fountain was again hired by Stanford T20 Cricket, to be the official fielding coach for the newly formed Stanford Superstars professional cricket team.[31] The Stanford Superstars were formed with the intention of playing a one off Twenty Million Dollar Game against England at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua on 1 November 2008, which is incidentally, Antigua's Independence Day. The event became the Stanford Super Series of cricket where Middlesex County Cricket Club from England, along with Trinidad and Tobago national cricket team, both of which had won their respective domestic T20 tournaments, joined England and the Superstars to play in a round robin series of games in Antigua, culminating in the 20 million dollar game against England on 1 Nov. The Superstars beat England convincingly.[32] As history shows the Stanford Superstars capitalised on their intensive coaching regime under Eldine Baptiste, Roger Harper, Cardigan Connor and Fountain, by winning every game they played that week and receiving 20 million dollars, the biggest winners pay cheque ever offered in cricket.[33] There were mixed feelings across the world, both in the lead up to and following the series;[34] and events have since proved that perhaps the Stanford connection within cricket may have been ill-advised for many, however the potential good that may have come from his involvement with West Indies cricket, will now never be fulfilled, leaving the regions cricketing future in the balance.[35]

In early 2009, Fountain was appointed as "Specialist Fielding Coach" to the Irish cricket team, under former West Indies Cricketer, Phil Simmons, during their World Cup Qualifying Tournament in South Africa, which proved to be highly successful, with Ireland not only winning the tournament, which they had previously never achieved, but retaining their ODI status along with qualifying for the next cricket world cup in 2011. Later in 2009 he again assisted Ireland when they played in Aberdeen against Scotland and in Stormont, Ireland during their ODI game against England which they narrowly lost.[36][37]

In December 2009 Fountain held clinics in St Kitts for the Canada Under 19 and West Indies Under 19 Squads, prior to their entry into the Under 19 world Cup in New Zealand in 2010.[38] In March 2010, Fountain joined Bermuda as part of their coaching staff, on the recommendation of former West Indies & Australian Commonwealth Bank Academy Coach, David JA Moore. This was as part of their preparation camp held at the HPC (High Performance Centre) University of Pretoria, South Africa, for a short tour of Namibia.[39][40]

In April 2010, Fountain was hired by the ICC, International Cricket Council, High Performance Unit to assist Ireland and Canada as part of their coaching staff, during their participation in the Jamaica Cricket Festival. Whilst on this assignment he also assisted with coaching Ireland in Trinidad, prior to their participation in the ICC World T20 Tournament in the Caribbean. In May, Fountain was again hired by Bermuda to help with the team's preparation for the ICC Americas Division 1 Championship to be held on Bermuda. He held a series of specialist fielding and T20 Batting Clinics for the Bermuda Team. He also held sessions for young Bermuda players, local coaches and local club teams.[41]

While in Trinidad, Fountain was invited to run "Specialist Fielding Clinics" for the highly acclaimed Trinidad & Tobago National Team, who were preparing for the Champions League qualification process.[42]

In July 2010, Fountain attended the ICC World Cricket League Division 1 Championships in the Netherlands as the "Fielding Specialist Consultant" as part of the ICC High Performance Department. Other consultants included Mudassar Nazar (Batting), Dayle Hadlee (Bowling), Jeremy Snape / Michael Caulfied (Sporting Edge Performance), Dr Sherylle Calder / Christi Botha (Vision Training), Patrick Farhart (Physiotherapy / Player Management), Andy Russell (Strength & Conditioning), and SportsMechanics (I) Pvt Ltd (Match Analysis).

Fountain and Pont got off to a good start with Bangladesh after "Tiger Washing" the New Zealand team 4-0 during the Micromax ODI Series in October 2010.[46] This is the first time Bangladesh has had a series win over a full-strength, Test-playing nation in its 10-year history and subsequently rose to 8th place in the ODI rankings, above West Indies and into the elite top group of teams. This was followed in December 2010 by a 3–1 series win over Zimbabwe.

As well as handling the fielding,[47] Fountain took a small hand in both batting & bowling coaching whilst working with Bangladesh,[48] assisting not only with fast bowlers with their slower balls,[49] baseball style power mechanics for all batters, actions and release techniques with the spinners and batting fundamentals and tactics with the tail enders.

During the 2010 micromax home series against Zimbabwe, Fountain was appointed temporarily awarded head coach status, whilst Jamie Siddons attended the birth of his second child back in Australia. This was for the third ODI at Sher-e-bangla National stadium in Dhaka, which Bangladesh won[50]

In 2010, whilst on assignment in Bangladesh Fountain and Ian Pont Fast Bowling Coach, combined to use their cricket and baseball backgrounds, to design a completely new slower ball for pace bowlers or variation ball for spin bowlers[51] Having both had experience as baseball pitchers, Fountain and Pont were both well aware of the movement it is possible to achieve, with the correct ball release. The delivery has been named the "Butterfly Ball" due to its erratic movement patterns through the air, and is based on the same aerodynamic principles as baseball's knuckleball.

Fountain was part of the coaching staff for the Bangladesh National Cricket Team during the ICC Cricket World Cup.[52] Bangladesh played six games at this ICC Cricket World Cup; beating England, Ireland and the Netherlands but losing to India, West Indies and South Africa. They were knocked out at the group stage.

After the World Cup had finished, Australia toured Bangladesh playing a 3 ODI series, which Australia won 3–0. Despite dramatically raising the standard of the Bangladesh team's fielding in only a matter of a few months, Fountains contract was not renewed.[53]

Pakistan played four matches; beating both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the group stage, but losing to India. Pakistan beat Bangladesh in the final and won the Asia Cup.

Pakistan played five matches at the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. They beat New Zealand & Bangladesh, to qualify for the super eight stage. They beat South Africa & Australia, but lost to India; however this still qualified them for the semi-final. They were beaten by Sri Lanka in the semi-finals.

Pakistan played three matches (plus a warmup). They were against South Africa, West Indies & India. Unfortunately Pakistan lost all three and failed to make it out of their group.

Despite a clear improvement in Pakistan's fielding performances, Fountain was not retained after his contract expired.

Fielding, a major component of cricket, has little or no statistical data to call upon when selecting players or making tactical adjustments. This had always puzzled Fountain, as he had extensive experience of baseball where all elements of the game, fielding included, are recorded. In 2010, Fountain's groundbreaking "Fielding Analysis System" for cricket was put into a software package, to allow every aspect of cricket fielding to be scored and analysed, giving a complete picture on a team or individuals performance. The system was first used by Fountain during his early stints with the West Indies on the 2000 / 2001 tour of Australia, and has been 10 years in development. Since that time various people have tried to imitate or copy it, including certain well known TV companies.

Fountain has written many articles on fielding, cricket, baseball and coaching which have been widely read, thanks to the internet. He has been featured on a huge range of sports television and radio shows, in all parts of the world. He has been involved with the research, production and presentation of coach education material for a wide variety of organisations including the ICC, ECB, PCB and WICB.[58]