Rajasthan name Pringle as bowling coach

Meyrick Pringle, the former South Africa fast bowler, has been appointed as Rajasthan bowling coach for the remainder of their Ranji Trophy campaign. The Rajasthan selectors were known to be concerned about the form of their attack and wanted the services of Pringle, who was already in Jaipur, at a private academy. Pringle joined the squad on Sunday.

“Our batting has been doing fine but our bowlers have not been performing to the desired level,” an RCA official told ESPNcricinfo. “So we thought we could make use of the experience of Pringle, who was a very good bowler for South Africa and also has coaching experience.”

“As defending champions we wanted to retain the Elite status as well as make the knockouts once again this year. For that we need to bowl sides out. The strength of our bowling department is our fast bowlers but they need proper guidance,” the official said.

Pringle played four Tests and 17 ODIs for South Africa between 1992 and 1995. He was part of their 1992 World Cup squad, which reached the semifinals, and took a brilliant 4 for 11 against West Indies in a group match. A prodigious swinger of the ball at his best, he later had coaching stints with both Netherlands and Namibia. At times he could swing the ball at will, and at his best he was nigh-unplayable. Pringle has been brought in to provide technical expertise to Rajasthan’s seamers Pankaj Singh, Deepak Chahar, Sumit Mathur and Aniket Choudhary.

Pringle is famed for two events: one when a bouncer from Javal Srinath forced its way through his visor and caused a depressed cheekbone and eye-socket fracture; and when he famously asked a South African team-mate how much the altitude at sea-level would affect his swing. — Staff reporter, SportsCentral