Former coach slams Bangladesh board's report

Bangladesh's former coach, Pakistani Mohsin Kamal, has said that they need to improve their attitude if they are to avoid becoming an international laughing stock.

"There is a serious lack of attitude in Bangladesh cricket and if they do not set their goals, cricket will continue to suffer and be mocked by the international community," Kamal, who was sacked as Bangladesh coach, told the AFP news agency.

Kamal was speaking in the aftermath of the publication of findings of an inquiry by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) into the team's dismal showing in this year's World Cup which blamed the team's failure on late nights out, complacency, team politics and inept coaching.

But Kamal's comments possibly owed as much as self-defence as they did to objectivity - his appointment as coach was identified in the report as one of the reasons for the side's poor performances. Ali Asghar, the BCB president, admitted that Kamal had not been an inspired choice. "I'm human so I can make a mistake," he told a hostile press conference in Dhaka. "But you must understand that I was very new at the time when Mohsin was appointed as coach."

The BCB report was equally critical of the former captain, Khaled Masud (also known as Pilot), who came under some suspicion for his role in the defeat against Kenya at Nairobi, but was cleared of charges of match-fixing. "Pilot's conduct and captaincy raised questions about his motive," read the report. "His performance against Kenya when he dropped three catches and failed to make the right bowling changes was also noticed. Moreover, the night before the Kenya match, Pilot was seen outside the hotel well after midnight."

Masud fired back immediately in a letter to the BCB, brushing aside all allegations as an attempt at character assassination. Kamal meanwhile blamed poor player knowledge, bad attitudes and inept officials for the situation. "[The BCB's] lack of attitude has failed them in learning and improving," he said. "Bangladeshi officials must let the policies run the people and not people run the policies and share responsibility for the team's poor performance. They have sacked coaches left, right and centre which has not allowed anyone to settle."

His comments were backed by Ali Zia, his former coaching assistant, who said: "The BCB has actually tried to hide their inefficiency by putting the blame on others."