Bangladesh: Incapacity, grouping, diet, coaching ... (25 Sep 1998)

25 September 1998

Incapacity, grouping, diet, coaching ...

Tanveer Haider

Nizamuddin Ahmed's "We need a cricket manager" (Daily Star, 19 September 1998) has prompted me to write this. As manager of the Bangladesh cricket team to the 1998 Commonwealth Games I must reveal certain facts to the nation because I love cricket. I have nothing to lose or gain. Cricket has given me many friends around the world.

Admittedly my comments to the press after losing to Northern Ireland was rash and I now understand that the interest of our cricket would have been better served had I waited for the opportune time to disclose my observation as tour manager. However, had my colleagues previously made known the information about the team, Bangladesh cricket would have benefited. Let me also explain that I was manager for this particular tour and sent on the explicit mission to find facts about the team, whose performance in the last eighteen months has left much to be desired.

I did mention to the press that our boys were not in a position to play cricket at this level. I meant that they do not have the capacity to face bowling of 80-90 km/hour. There were many fast bowlers at the Commonwealth meet. Our boys have practised at speeds of around 70 km/hour with the bowling machine and that too with a rubber ball. At Kuala Lumpur we have lost only one wicket to a spinner, all the wickets went to opposing fast bowlers. We do not have fast bowlers of that high calibre in Bangladesh. We need to improve our batting technique against genuine fast bowling.

Another negative feature that has surfaced to me in the tour is the inherent grouping in the Bangladesh team. This has affected team performance. There are lobbies, strong liking and disliking of each other. Others were inclined towards Faruque. Durjoy also had a part to play. He goes half-hearted for a catch if the bowling is of someone he does not like. There are three groups working in the Bangladesh team. I have never found togetherness among the players.

Because of the grouping, there is a feeling among some players that they are indispensable. Some rely on the grouping to keep their team position. Unless the players are made to feel that they can be replaced, there will be sluggishness in the team and in individual performance.

Our players have bad food habits. The players have no idea about food value, calorie content, cholesterol, etc. They cannot take care of their own health. They do not follow any diet chart. A dietician in Kuala Lumpur told me that our boys will not last two years the way and what they eat.

None of our bowlers have the stamina to bowl four overs at a stretch. They have unnecessary long run-ups. which eats up their stamina.

Rafiq was the player with must guts, a real fighter. Aminul Islam also did well with ball. There is something wrong with wicketkeeper Pilot. He missed a number of catches and stumping chances.

Most importantly, I have to condemn the coaching system. I think it is totally wrong or our boys are not fit to play cricket at all. There has been no improvement for the last eighteen months. Gordon Greenidge is one of the all-time best cricketers. But, as a coach, he is untested. His West Indian English dialect is also a problem for our boys to understand him. Now that Akram has lost his captaincy, I will not say much about his leadership except that he did not know how to set a field. He also made his best bowler under-bowl in crucial matches.

Bangladesh Cricket Board has to take drastic measures to change the coaching method. The way of coaching is totally wrong. The fast bowler should be made to work on his stamina and target bowling. A fast bowler must do five rounds of the ground before doing the nets. In the practice session, each of our batsmen has to face 200 balls at 80-90 km/hour in the blockhole from the bowling machine with ten fielders. Test cricketers, Bob Woolmer, Vivian Richards and Sadiq Mohammad have suggested these to me.

To make Bangladesh team more strong and appropriate for the World Cup, I recommend to recall the following players back into the team: Athar Ali Khan, Enamul Huq Moni, Saiful Islam, Liton, Murtoza and Minhazul Abedin Nannu.

With over thirty years of my cricket career as player and organiser, whatever I have said is in the interest of Bangladesh cricket.

Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)