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Julian Fountain is a fielding coach, not a faith healer, but he claims he has restored one of the weakest throwing arms in cricket to its former strength.

He told the Daily Gleaner after a recent session with Jamaican players at Kingston’s Sabina Park that the great West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh should now be able to throw from the deep for the remainder of his cricketing career.

The 37-year-old Walsh has not thrown from the outfield for a number of years, preferring to bowl in the ball because of pain associated with throwing from distances. But, according to the paper, he was convinced by Fountain to try a different style that had done the trick.

When I came here, I was told that Walsh couldn’t throw and that he hadn’t thrown for ten years, Fountain said.

Convinced

However, I managed to convince him to change what he did, the way he threw the ball and he was able to throw to me from 20-25 yards without any pain whatsoever.

I think it was a case of Walsh being tense, not relaxed when throwing, and that caused the pain, Fountain added.

Fountain, a 37-year-old Englishman, was appointed by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to work with the team during last season’s home series against Australia and the World Cup in England.

But he does not have a full-time WICB contract and told the Gleaner he is not happy with the consistency with which he works with the senior team.

I haven't been with the senior team since the World Cup, he explained.

I understand that developing youngsters is key because they are supposed to be the ones to take over in the future but there are fielding practices in the senior team that need to be corrected.