Fielding guru brought back from wilderness for Australia Fielding guru: Mike Hussey of Australia in action as fielding coach Mike Young looks on. Down on the Mississippi River, on the eastern border of Iowa, they don't follow the time-honoured Anglo-Australian cricket rivalry too closely. It's black bears, deer, pheasants and fish that are in their sights, not Englishmen. For the past year or so, on and off, though, there has been at least one person in those parts with a big interest in both activities. Mike Young, the former American baseballer and coach who became Australia's fielding guru during the team's halcyon days last decade, was living out of a friend's cabin for much of the time since a job with South Africa fell through in July of last year. "I've been hunting bears and deer," he said. I was coaching in the IPL [with Kings XI Punjab] as well but when I wasn't doing that I was living in a cabin and in a motel room, doing some writing and hunting. I've got a boat on the Mississippi River and I went fishing and hunting out there. I got into the backwoods and it was real good for me. Hunting mode: Mike Young. The 57-year-old had been left out in the woods when, via a phone call he received driving on an interstate highway, the long-term position he anticipated with the Proteas went up in smoke. He had rented out his house in Brisbane and was left with nowhere else really to go. That was until Australia, who he had not worked with for more than two years, came calling again out of the blue. "I just dropped the gun, went back to Chicago, put my stuff in storage and got on a plane to Australia," he said. Not mincing words: Mike Young with his limit of wood ducks collected in Iowa. Young is in Brisbane as a fielding consultant for Darren Lehmann's team but it is quickly obvious he is far more than that. When Shane Watson turned up to their first training session last Thursday they didn't meet with a handshake but a warm embrace. When Mike Hussey retired last summer he phoned Young first, saying he couldn't bear to have him hear about it from a news bulletin or from someone else. In a year in which the so-called decline in the Australian team's culture has been a recurring theme, Young's re-arrival on the scene is interesting in its timing. He was brought in by Lehmann's predecessor Mickey Arthur briefly to help Australia prepare for the Champions Trophy one-day tournament that preceded the Ashes series in England this year. It was, of course, only weeks before David Warner would take a swing at Joe Root and Arthur would be knocked out of his job. What Young saw in England and what he sees now are contrasting images. "Gosh, they're in a good place mentally," he said. There was a few little things in England ... I hadn't been with them for so long and it was none of my business, but there was some tension, and I don't know where it was from, so I make no comment about that. But I do know this: The guys, the group, everybody I've met are really professional, relaxed, ready to play. The reason for the turnaround in dynamics is fairly simple, he says. It's 'Boof' [Lehmann]. He's made the difference and that's a great testament to him. It's his first international job and in a short period of time - we're talking six months or whatever - this guy has done phenomenal stuff. The feeling is different - that's the only way I can put it. I think players have a better understanding of their role. They can just go out and enjoy their cricket. It's not so much about cricket, it is about people. Everybody is excited and saying the right things and they're not just saying them. Guys mean it, you can tell. I've known these guys for so long, they're not going to blow smoke at me. I've been around for too long. I can tell if they're bullshitting me. Young was with Australia through an era that spanned the entirety of Ricky Ponting's captaincy, taking in three World Cups and two Ashes tours. He knows the players in both sides better than most: he coached at CA's Centre of Excellence, mentoring some of the players who are now in the national team, and also worked with Rod Marsh at England's academy, coaching the likes of Alastair Cook, Matt Prior and Stuart Broad. They've been together for a long time. People shouldn't disregard that," he said of England. I know the feeling of success and I want to see the faces of these guys [in the Australian team] when it happens for them and I promise you it will happen. If they keep doing what they're doing now, the stone will turn. To see them now - Steven Smith, [George] Bailey, Watto, Mitch Johnson ... I had all those guys at the Centre of Excellence when they were young. I was there for Michael Clarke's first game for Australia, a one-day game in Adelaide. So I know these guys like the back of my hand and there's no doubt I believe I can assist in some capacity. Whatever they need me for - if it's to run water, I'll run water. I know this sounds a bit cliched but when your country calls, and you're a coach, I'm there. You don't ask about anything else. I know how big it is.