It takes time to change the cricket culture of a country - Naimur

Our failure in Test cricket is unfortunate but not unexpected. Look at the foundation for our recent ODI successes. We have had a long culture of competitive one-day cricket in Bangladesh. The Dhaka Premier League, which has been our leading club-based 50-over competition, has featured players like Wasim Akram, Neil Fairbrother and Arjuna Ranatunga. The atmosphere at the Premier League matches was always very competitive, the financial packages were satisfactory and all these factors helped players to develop the temperament for one-day cricket.

Now if we look at the National Cricket League (NCL), which is our only first class competition, you will find a completely different scenario. In the recent past players were reluctant in participating in the NCL due to poor facilities and the board had to force them by making it mandatory for national team hopefuls. One cannot expect to develop the temperament of Test cricket without playing serious and competitive 1st class cricket.

The good news is that the board has taken the initiative to make the NCL more competitive, increasing the financial rewards for the players. The situation is still at a developing stage, but I can assure you that we are heading towards right direction, and we will be able to reap the benefits of these steps within two or three years.

We lack proper cricket facilities at first-class venues except Dhaka. We are still treating cricket as a seasonal, urban-centric sport: indoor facilities, gyms and training academies are almost non-existent outside Dhaka. Players need proper facilities, not makeshift ones to raise their game. They also need financial security and a competitive environment. We need sporting wickets where both batsman and bowler will get equal opportunities to perform. It takes time to change a culture, to put in the infrastructure, etc. We are still in the transition stage and it will take some more time to develop the standard.

The last panel did a pretty good job and we [the current panel] want to carry on from where they have left. I have a feeling that they [previous panel] may have had a tad too much experimentation in the national team, which in some cases has backfired. I want to make the players ready for the national team before handing them the national cap. It takes time to make a player and losing them early is a huge loss for our cricket.

We need a blend of experience and youth, especially in Test cricket. As long as the seniors are physically fit and performing, they will be always considered for selection. Players like Habibul Bashar and Khaled Masud are still required in the Bangladesh team; we should not forget their past contributions on account of their failures in one or two series. At the same time we have to groom their successors as no one can play for an indefinite period. We have good back-ups for [Mohammad] Rafique in Enamul [Haque jnr] and Abdur Razzak and Mushfiqur Rahim is gaining experience to replace Khaled Masud.

We don't want to make too many changes in the current squad. We want to rely on experienced and performing players for this difficult tour. There are some young players performing consistently in the domestic league, but we don't want to throw them into the big test in New Zealand conditions as this might dent their confidence.

Nazimuddin is one of the more technically sound players in the pipeline, but he is still young and learning. He has performed quite well with the A team in different conditions, but I want to give him some more time before considering him for Test cricket. Junaid and Imrul have just started playing cricket. They should go through the Academy and A team before getting the national cap. Zunaed is a good find for us in the Twenty20 cricket. Both will get their opportunities in due time.

Alok was given a good number of opportunities but Tushar was unlucky in many cases. They will remain in our minds as long as they are working hard and performing in the domestic cricket. This applies not only for Tushar or Alok but also for all other players who were discarded at different times for different reasons.

Why not? If they can remain fit and perform consistently, they will always be in the frame of things.

There is no place for politics in our cricket infrastructure or processes. What happened in the past should remain in the past. No one knows better than me about the ill effect of politics on a player's career. I personally want to make selection process fair and free from any outside influences.

The success of Rafique as a bowler might be the reason behind the good number of slow left-arm prospects the team enjoys. Having said that, we desperately need a good off or legbreak bowler who can serve Bangladesh cricket for a long time; especially in Test cricket. Once we find someone, youngsters will be inspired with his success and will take offspin or legspin more seriously. We are working on this issue but finding a quality spinner is a lengthy process, it will not happen overnight.

I am satisfied with the progress made in the ODI cricket under Dav Whatmore. He transformed a losing side into a winning outfit and instilled confidence, but I am not happy with our performance in Test cricket. There was too much experimentation and thus too many changes in the squads. He doesn't seem to have worked with individual players in terms of establishing them in the longer version of the game.

I think the BCB has made a very good choice here. He was a very good batsman and has an excellent coaching pedigree. I am looking forward to work with him.

Do you mean in ranking? I don't want to correlate development with ranking. Nowadays almost every team takes Bangladesh seriously in ODI matches. I want to see Bangladesh earning the same level of respect in Test matches. We also have a vision for 2011 World Cup in which we are a co-host. We want do better than our performance in the last World cup to make it a memorable event for Bangladesh. To achieve our target, we want to build a strong A team culture along with academy and age-group teams. There should be a smooth transition to the national team so that a player becomes ready for international cricket.