Warwickshire men’s first team coach Mark Robinson has warmly welcomed the input of bowling consultants Dean Headley and Yasir Arafat at Edgbaston while bowling coach Pop Welch is away with the England squad.
Welch will be with England, supporting the bowlers in India, across all three formats, until the end of March.
So Robinson brought in former Kent and Middlesex paceman Headley, who played 28 Tests and ODIs for England, and Yasir Arafat, who played all three formats for Pakistan, to work with the Bears bowlers in the short-term.
Headley was at Edgbaston last week and Arafat is there this week and next to add their expertise and experience into the mix.
“We are just trying to get a number of voices around players and are very lucky to have had these two guys to mind the shop while Pop is away,” Robinson said.
“Our bowlers belong to Pop, so these guys’ job is not to reinvent the wheel, it’s just to stimulate questions and open up a few thoughts. It also gives a bit of support to the other coaches as well, because we are a man down while Pop’s away.
Mark Robinson
“Dean came in last week and was great. He’s an ex-England bowler with great pedigree and he did it brilliantly. When you come in as a consultant, the danger is you just come in and seek to impose your knowledge on players, but Dean was lovely. He just opened the boys up to conversations and got to know them and helped in that subtle way that experienced coaches can do.
“Now Yasir is with us this week and next which is great. He was an outstanding white-ball bowler who also took nearly 800 red-ball wickets too and played a number of Test matches, so has a wealth of experience and knowledge to pass on.”