Gordon Greenidge affair (15 July 1999)

15 July 1999

Gordon Greenidge affair

Yousuf R Rahman

The day I checked into the hotel in Edinburgh on May 23, I ran into Gordon in the Manager's room. I wished him and extended my hand to him. Although we greeted each other, his was expressionless.

There was something noticeably wrong with him that caught my eye right away. I knew right then that things were not going well with him and the BCB. Gordon's difference of opinion with the BCB was nothing new. In fact, the two were poles apart in their thinking and it went back as early as 1997.

During my stay with the team in the UK, it was quite obvious that Gordon was never a part of the team. Physically, he was there. Mentally, he was far away and did not hesitate to speak about the team's faults openly to whoever wanted to know about Bangladesh cricket. On the eve of the Scotland game, the team Manager, Captain and the Board President (who may not have too much to say due to his limited technical knowledge about the game) did the selection of the team. Apparently, Gordon did not have any role to play. He was simply a passenger.

Soon after the win against Scotland, I ran into him again in the evening at the hotel lobby. I, like a few others, congratulated him. He did not respond.

What the BCB did on the eve of the match against Pakistan may not have been the courteous thing to do but Gordon simply did not belong. I am not condoning the act of the BCB, and I think the proper thing to do would have been to bring him to Dhaka and then quietly remove him from his assignment.

What bothers me is that the friction between the BCB and Gordon for whatever reasons did not happen in England. It was carried from Dhaka.

Under the circumstances, I fail to understand why he was taken to England as the Coach when he was an unwilling partner in Bangladesh's World Cup endeavour.

The BCB could have saved this embarrassment for themselves and the players.

Gordon is not the only one who thinks that Bangladesh need to wait for entering the Test match arena. Several others with the slightest cricketing mind will agree with him, just as I am agreeing with him. He was simply more vocal and, somewhat, not very diplomatic than the others. Bangladesh should not forget that the ICC Trophy was won with Gordon as an active part of the Bangladesh squad in Kuala Lumpur. Many may disagree with me now but I still believe that he played a major role in Bangladesh's win in Kuala Lumpur in 1997.

This subject has been a matter of discussion amongst the ICC members and millions of Bangladeshis are hoping that we would get the Full Membership of the ICC after our victory against Pakistan. The ICC in their meeting in June has decided to shelve Bangladesh's application for another year and rightfully so. It will be reviewed again in the 2000 meeting.

We do not have the domestic infrastructure to support our claim for Test match status. We have barely won three matches after gaining one-day status. Of the three wins, two are against Associate Member countries. The win against Pakistan has been the biggest one of our short history. It is not enough to qualify for test match status. We are not equipped to survive five days against the other Full Members.

Let us not fantasise. Our politicians need a reality check and should stop misleading the cricket fans of the country. Suddenly, cricket has become a household topic in all political circles and all of them are already staking claims as to how they have contributed to the development of the game and how they had "dreamt" of Bangladesh's win in the World Cup. Yet, not only did they fail to condemn the destruction of our cricket pitches at the Dhaka Stadium by the Football Federation but they also failed to return the Dhaka Stadium (Cricket Stadium) back to our cricketers.

The politicians have even compared the victory against Pakistan to that of the spirit of 1971. Maqsoodul Haque, of the Dhaka jazz-rock band DHAKA put it very well. " What happens when we play Pakistan the next time and lose (as we most probably will)? Does the spirit of 1971 disappear? Are we to equate the next defeat as a defeat of our Liberation War? "

Bangladesh must create a very strong and successful 4-day domestic competition. For this grounds must be created with good pitches. They must play 4-day matches in the sub-continent. We have three World Cup Champions in the region and we do not need to travel to the west to improve our cricket. The best fast bowlers and spinners are our neighbours and we should capitalise on the situation. Cricket is phenomenal in Bangladesh and all we need is the competitive hardness that one can only acquire by playing at the highest level.

I have said in the past and I am saying it again, Bangladesh will be the next Test match nation. We should focus on winning matches against Test teams. There is no substitute to winning. It is a great habit to pick. In my opinion, our wait, depending on our performance over the next year or two should be over in the year 2001. We will be fortunate if we can make it in 2000, which will be a welcome entry into the Test match arena.

Simon Hughes of the Daily Telegraph puts it very well when he writes, " the future of cricket is in the sub-continent, no doubt about it. Bangladesh have made some tentative steps towards the summit in their matches in this World Cup. The more experience they get at the tope level, the better they will get. Soon they will be beating England in a Test match at Lord's. It is inevitable."

The writer was known as Yousuf Babu when he played with much aplomb for Bangladesh in the 70s. The former national cricketer now works in the States.

Source :: The Daily Star