Bangladesh: Saber selects sixteen for Australian training (22 Jul 1998)

22 July 1998

Saber selects sixteen for Australian training

Sports Reporter

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), sans a Selection Committee, yesterday named sixteen cricketers, who will undergo a month-long training at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Adelaide, Australia, from August 3. The list also includes Nazmul Abedin Fahim as coach-cum-coordinator.

The Board, apparently dejected by the performance of the national team in the just-concluded tour of the Ireland, England and Scotland, is taking up the programme as an opportunity to discover fresh talent in time for the World Cup next May.

The selected players, mostly aged below twenty, have been asked to report to the BCB office this evening at 6 pm. They are expected to leave the capital on August 1.

Surprisingly, the selection was signed by BCB president Saber Hossain Chowdhury, a practice unusual in the annals of modern-day cricket. This was perhaps because the Board was yet to form a Selection Committee, almost two months after dissolving the Makhan-led five-man squad.

The list reflects Mr. Chowdhury's pledge to the Daily Star last week that he would send "down under" as many young cricketers as possible. Included are six cricketers - Al-Shahriar, Fahim Muntasir Rahman, Towhid Hossain, Rashidul Haque, Mohammad Mortuza and Ridwan Hassan - from the under-20 team which won the Plate at the World Youth Cup defeating West Indies early this year.

Five cricketers - Azam Iqbal, Naimur Rahman, Shafiuddin Ahmed, Hasibul Hossain and Morshed Ali Khan - from the national team which recently toured Ireland, England and Scotland have been included for the training.

The Australia-bound others are three openers, Sajjad Ahmed, Shahriar Hossain and Parvez Ahmed, middle-order batsman Sanwar Hossain and medium-pacer Zakir Hossain.

The trip has been arranged by the BCB solely to improve the physical ability and basic technique of the players. The Board will bear the cost of travel while the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) will share with BCB the course fee at the academy.

Former Australian Test cricketer Wayne Philips has been appointed by the ACB as supervisor of the training programme. Former Australian wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh will be the head coach while Richard Dann will look after the physical aspects of the cricketers.

The following is the list: Azam Iqbal, Shahriar Hossain, Sajjad Ahmed, Parvez Ahmed, Naimur Rahman, Al-Shahriar, Sanwar Hossain, Ridwan Hassan, Fahim Muntasir Rahman, Towhid Hossain, Rashidul Haque, M Mortuza, Shafiuddin, Shafiuddin Ahmed, Hasibul Hossain, Morshed Ali Khan and Zakir Hossain.

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