Coaching Crew
Ian Pont, head coach & FOUNDER
Quetta Gladiators bowling coach PSL 1. Double-winning T20 Head Coach in BPL with Dhaka. Affectionately known as “The Face Of Pace” and the Grandfather of Speed, Ian is an ex first- class cricketer in England (Notts & Essex) & South Africa (Kwa-Zulu Natal). Try-outs with 6 Major League Baseball teams as a pitcher. Olympic qualifying distance javelin thrower. 2nd longest recorded cricket ball throw of all time (126.18m). Founder and creator of ABSAT fast bowling methodology. Three-time ICC World Cup international coach. Coach to Dale Steyn, Shoaib Akhtar, Deepak Chahar, Naveen Ul Haq plus many first-class, IPL and other Test & ODI players. Triple author: “The Fast Bowler’s Bible”, “Coaching Youth Cricket” & “Ultimate Pace Secrets”. ECB Level 3 HEAD COACH. Former ECB National & Regional Skills Set Coach for Fast Bowling. Former Essex bowling coach & Northants bowling coach.
Catherine Dalton, assistant head coach
Multan Sultans bowling coach PSL 9. First female in the world to be a fast bowling coach in elite level men’s cricket. Former England Academy all rounder. Ireland international at ICC T20 World Cup in India 2016. Middlesex & Essex player. First female to score 100 in men’s Two Counties League for Halstead CC. Has also hit 211* in the ECB Women’s Prem for Gunnersbury CC, (the highest ever-recorded in the ECB Premier League) and 2 x T20 100s. International fast bowling coach and world-class expert in technical coaching. Has worked with Test, IPL and first-class players in the UK, India and Pakistan. ABSAT Master Coach (M.Ab). Gained a first-class honours degree in Physical and Sport Education (B.A.) from St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London. ECB Level 3 Advanced Coach. Also a summariser for Talksport Radio on international men’s ODI’s & T20.
Andre Nel, Specialist Coach
Andre is the former South African fast bowler who has played more than 100 times for his country. Known for his aggressive bowling style on the pitch, he has a Test best of 6-32 and took 231 wickets for SA across a 7-year International career. He has bowled speeds in excess of 96mph and had three stints in County cricket with Northants, Essex & Surrey plus played in the IPL for Mumbai Indians. Andre is currently taking his ECB Level 4 Master Coach badges and is an important addition to the NFBA coaching crew.
Luke Humphrey, Specialist Coach
Luke is an ABSAT Master Coach (M.Ab), ECB Level 4 Master Coach, ECB Tutor & Assessor and an NLP Practitioner. Luke worked with The England Lions and was the Lead Coach for the England Talent Tests at the home of Team England, at the National Cricket Performance Centre, Loughborough.
Jack Ormsby, Specialist Coach
Jack plays ECB premier league cricket and played Minor Counties cricket for Cambridgeshire. Jack is now a coach with the Devon County Cricket Board. He is an ABSAT Master Coach (M.Ab) and ECB Level 2.
Jason Fergus, Sprint Coach
Jason is a Gold Medallist from the 1992 World Junior games in the Great Britain 4 x100m relay team alongside Darren Campbell, Allyn Condon and James Baulch.
He is an expert in sprint techniques and developing speed. Jason has worked at grassroots level as well as for Sport England and England Athletics.
Joe Reed, S&C Coach
Joe is an accomplished Strength & Conditioning expert with extensive experience in the field. He holds a 1st class degree and Masters with a distinction in Strength and Conditioning Science and has worked with Olympic medalists from three different countries.
Joe's expertise in the field has led him to work at Essex cricket, multiple Olympic athletes, tennis players and professional sportsman and woman across the world. Having been a fast bowler himself and a former university 1st team cricket player, Joe has an in-depth understanding of the sport and tailors his training programmes accordingly.
He currently works with the Nation’s best tennis players, coaching multiple number one ranked national age group players.
Joe is looking forward to using these prior experiences to enhance the player’s performance in the NFBA programme