This time in “CATCHING UP WITH” we chat with a well-known name in the T20 coaching ranks around the globe. Yorkshire-born and now long-time Western Bay of Plenty resident (when he's at home) James Pamment, has become a fixture with the Mumbai Indians since joining them as a specialist fielding coach in 2018.
 
For those that don't know James cricket CV - in his early days in New Zealand, he wore the Auckland strip in nearly a half-century of NZC Major Association games, becoming known as a hard-hitting batsman.
 
His coaching journey began with the Bay of Plenty senior representative team, before a reasonably quick transition as Northern Districts HP and Northern Knights Head Coach.
 
Always on the go, James found time to serve as a Black Cap assistant coach during 2021/22 sandwiched inside his Mumbai Indians role.
 
Refresh us on how the Mumbai Indians appointment came about.

The ND Knights had won the Domestic T/20 Competition in season 2013/14, which gave us the opportunity to attend the Champions League competition in India in September/October 2014. While we were at that competition we played and beat Mumbai Indians during the group play in Raipur. Throughout that tournament the Knights boys were so very committed to putting their best foot forward, in all areas of their game, and were particularly outstanding in the field. That didn’t go unnoticed and a few enquiries were made from MI management as to what was behind the teams efforts in the field especially.

John Wright was the Coach of Mumbai Indians at the time, and he knew many of our players very well through his time at New Zealand Cricket - and he had also employed me initially as a NZC Network Coach in the ND region, as well as providing opportunities for me to work with the NZ Under 19’s and NZ A team on tours to Australia and Zimbabwe, also with the Black Caps in 2012/13.

John knew I was very passionate about fielding and that I had a made a positive impact with the teams that I had been with. John’s role changed from coaching to scouting with Mumbai the following year, but they kept in touch with me and were keen to secure my services for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons. However I was passionate about the group of players that I was with at ND, and wanted to help them develop their skills and teamwork, alongside developing my own coaching skills.

ND missed out on reaching the play-offs for the 2016/17 Domestic T/20 season, so the management decided to split the roles for the following season and I became the ND First Class and 50 Over Ford Trophy Competition Coach. I guess when your role is reduced in that manner you start to look for opportunities knowing that the ND role could be reduced even further in the future.

When Mumbai Indians contacted me again in October 2017, with a view to me taking up a position in early 2018, I took the opportunity to meet with them and present my philosophies around how I felt a High Performance fielding programme could be presented and delivered in preparation for and during an IPL season. They must have liked what they observed and acknowledged that the people they had spoken with about my credentials, all stacked up.

Tell us about the growth of the Mumbai Indians from one team to today where there are five MI sides worldwide.
 

Yes, the MI Franchise and Family has grown massively in the last couple of years with the advent of T/20 Leagues in South Africa, The Emirates, United States of America and the introduction of a Women’s IPL competition. 2023 was a big year for the Franchise introducing four new teams, MI Cape Town, MI Emirates, MI New York and the MI Women’s squad.

Logistically it’s been a massive undertaking and from a scouting and recruitment point of view, it’s been very busy. The new competitions have all been well received and supported. To date we have had success in winning the Women’s IPL, the Major League in the US and the ILT/20 (Emirates) competitions.

Tell us about your role and responsibilities with the Black Caps during 2021/22.

It is always a great pleasure and honour to help the Black Caps in any way that I can, but in 2021 the BC’s bailed me out of a very tough situation.

Post the second part of the IPL, which was conducted in The Emirates, I couldn’t get home due to the policy the Government had in place for returning citizens and residents. I had to go to Mumbai instead and was holed up in a hotel from early October, until the Black Caps arrived in India for a short tour of three T/20’s and two Test matches, post their T/20 World Cup in Mid-November.

They were aware of my situation and seconded me on to the staff in order to assist with my transfer back to New Zealand post the tour. I was very thankful for that opportunity and during the test tour, I was given the opportunity to present the Test Caps to the team before the first test in Kanpur, and share a bit about my cricketing journey. It was an amazing experience, a great honour for me and my family, and something I will treasure in my memory for the rest of my days.
 
Can you give us some insight into your time to date with MI Cape Town in the South African T20 League.

I’ve been the MI CT Fielding Coach for both seasons (2023 & 2024) of the South Africa T/20. Both seasons have been very disappointing for us from a playing and results point of view, but off the field, it’s been amazing to experience a brilliant competition in an amazing country. The public have really got behind the new league and the grounds that they have in South Africa have been packed to capacity. With the involvement of several IPL franchises within the teams, the quality of overseas players is very high and when you mix that with the incredible local talent. It’s been a fabulous recipe and a dream start for the organisers.
 

Your work with MI New York, in the inaugural USA T20 League, must have provided you with plenty of challenges in a country where cricket is a largely unknown sport.

No real challenges to be honest. This league has been in the making for several years and like the South African Competition, just needed the push of IPL owners getting involved to give it the kick start it needed, along with the cricket credibility off and on the park. The infrastructure is improving and hopefully in time, the improving quality of the local players will dictate that the overseas player number can be reduced.

There is a massive amount of cricket being played in the USA and the following on social media from within the USA is second only to India. There’s a very large number of ex pat South Asians especially, who are playing and supporting cricket all over the United States, and there’s also a growing number of players from Commonwealth countries who have relocated to the US in recent years.

This combined with the Caribbean countries who are also close to the US, then you have a lot of good cricketers who are eyeing the USA as a viable opportunity to play and develop their cricket.

Tell us about your typical training day in the buildup and during the IPL season.

In the build up to IPL. I usually arrive 10 to 12 days before the season begins. We usually have physical screening for the first couple of days for the domestic players before commencing our training programme.

I use this opportunity to get to know any new players in the squad and gauge what they believe are their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to training. I would have already distributed a throwing programme for the players who aren’t playing through the period before we come together, so it’s a good opportunity to ask if they have committed to the programme.

We generally train two days on, one day off, leading into game one, with a couple of warm up games in the week before we start. We usually start our training between 4pm and 5pm due to the heat and a typical training session will last for 3 to 4 hours. Starts with a physical warm up, followed by some throwing and a team fielding activity. The players will then split into net practice rotations, and I will work with small groups on base skills through this time. The expectation is that all the players manage their training plan and spend some time on all their skills. Occasionally, I have to remind a player or two that they need to come to my “office!”

Give us an insight into your role/s on IPL Game Day

It’s a long day for me as I try to keep to my New Zealand routine of getting up early and carrying out some exercise before breakfast. Because everything happens late during the IPL, most of the players and staff don’t go to sleep until 4-5am and wake up mid-afternoon.

I try to be up by seven and walking or swimming by 8 and at breakfast by 10am. There's a little bit of planning to be done in the late morning before a rest in the early afternoon. We generally meet as a group around 5.30pm and travel to the ground at 6pm, warmups will start around 6.30pm and the game at 7.30pm. I’ll be on the ground from 6.15pm hitting balls and helping the players prepare and through the game I’ll be coding our fielding efforts and making notes for use in our reflection meetings.

On most occasions, it is after midnight when the game concludes, and we are back at the hotel before 1am. If we win there’s usually a party to celebrate and if we finish second, there’s a quick dram in the room to drown the sorrows before bed. I drank a lot of Whisky this last season!!

 Who are some of the Kiwi players you have worked with at the Mumbai Indians over the years.

Trent Boult is the one who’s made the biggest impact during my time with MI. It was a great shame we didn’t retain him prior to the last IPL mega auction and despite our attempts to re-sign him, we lost out to another team.

Trent’s made a massive contribution to our winning teams in The Emirates and MI New York. Mitchell McClenaghan forged a good record with MI prior to my arrival and played a limited role in 2018/19 and 2020. Adam Milne and James Neesham have had short stints with MI during my time.

What does the next twelve months hold for James Pamment.

Good question, one I keep asking myself every day. I’ve got some gardening to do when I get back home to Papamoa in early August and then some decisions to make about my future later in the year. My contracts with MI are all ending in December, so I guess time will tell if they offer me a new deal, or if it is time to seek something new.