Shubho
December 13, 2002, 01:32 PM
The shameful display of our country’s national cricket team against the touring West Indian side ought not come as a surprise to even the most optimistic among our ranks.
The result itself was a forgone conclusion, and the manner in which our team folded was testament to the poor work being carried out by the current leadership of the BCB. Bangladeshi cricket fans cannot but cry out in anguish at the utter ineptitude of our cricketing officials.
The BCB has failed on several fronts, not just one. Poor team selection is but one of the ills facing Bangladeshi cricket. Questions have to be asked about Chief Selector Aliul Islam, who arbitrarily opted to drop proven players and gambled with the selection of others.
No one can justify the absence of Al Shahriar Rokon, who has been our best opener in tests, despite his lackluster performance in One Day Internationals.
The inclusion of Anwar Hossain was a complete disaster, and was a gamble that did not bode well right from the start due to his obvious lack of exposure. He was picked on the basis of only one performance, and that too in a hastily organized Challenge Trophy.
Attempting to strengthen the middle order with Aminul Islam Bulbul was laughable, given that he is now the wrong side of 35, and Bangladesh has a bevy of up-and-coming talent to take his place.
Finally, one cannot help being embarrassed at the inclusion of two specialist spinners, instead of using three pace bowlers. What indeed were the selectors thinking?
Bangladesh is playing a series at home, so our ace in the sleeve is perfect knowledge of pitch conditions. Sri Lankan groundsmen were brought in to make the pitch at the Bangabandhu National Stadium more bouncy, yet we still fielded only one seamer.
The West Indians made it perfectly clear that seamers should have been fielded after Vasbert Drakes, Jermaine Lawson, Pedro Collins and Daren Powell made such incisive inroads into our batting attack. As a new inclusion to World Cricket, we have a thing or two to learn from our superior opponents. Yet we fail even to copy the simplest of their tactical decisions.
Heads should be rolling not only in the actual cricket team, which changes from match to match before anybody has even familiarized themselves with the names of the new players. Heads should be rolling in the Selection Committee, and significant changes must be effected at all other levels of the BCB.
Everybody recognizes the need for accountability in the BCB, except for the BCB officials themselves. This backward attitude has to change immediately.
The nomination of Saber Hossain Chowdhury as the former cricket boss was a stroke of extremely good luck. However, it is not a carte blanche for the BCB to continue being run by an appointee of the government, or that it should continue to be operated on an ad hoc basis, as is presently the case.
The BCB can no longer be run arbitrarily according to the whims of a cricketing non-entity. In our case, that person is Ali Asghar Lobi, who has next to no cricketing credentials.
Furthermore, what cricketing background do the sons of our current prime minister have that they merit a say in cricketing affairs? It is a total mockery of democratic principles and good governance to support such blatant nepotism.
The sooner the current crop of officials realizes this self-evident truth the better. We have lost 16 test matches and 24 ODIs on the trot, setting negative world records in both forms of the game.
Bangladeshi cricket fans have not been witness to any significant overall improvements in our performances, bar one or two heroic individual efforts. This calls for drastic action.
Selection aside, questions have to be asked about the standard of coaching. There has been no transparency in the hiring process of Bangladesh cricket’s top job. Given the sparse information that was disseminated by the media, the BCB selected Mohsin Kamal based solely on recommendations by former Pakistan players.
No detailed assessment was made of his past coaching credentials. As a player he was neither world class, nor did he gain a significant amount of experience in the international arena. He played exactly 9 tests and 19 ODIs, so we are certainly not being led by a cricketing genius. In other words, he is very much dispensable.
It is also high time that our cricket officials realize that coaches from the Subcontinent are a risky option. Mohinder Amarnath proved to be more than a handful when he left without a word after dismal performances in the ICC Trophy.
A lesson could also have been learnt from our neighbors, none of who are working with local coaches. This is testament to the fact that they either lack the necessary professionalism (a la Javed Miandad) or the experience to prevail at this level.
Besides, the BCB should be contemplating a more rigorous recruitment procedure than the one described earlier. The applicant’s past playing and coaching experience must be examined. Through interviews, the BCB has to elicit the applicant’s motivation for the job, and what exactly he intends to do for Bangladesh cricket, as well as how exactly he will go about doing it.
Given the haphazard way that the BCB is being run, and the farcical performances of our team, we can conclude that neither the BCB, nor Mohsin Kamal, have any concrete plans to induce future improvements. It remains for them to prove me wrong.
The list of failures does not even stop there. Our domestic competitions are of a dismally poor standard. So-called top performers in the National League fail to have any impact at the international level.
They are hopelessly exposed when facing top-caliber players, mainly because their domestic competitors do not challenge them. This is compounded by the uniform pitch conditions throughout the country: slow and flat wickets, which only help the batsmen. Hence our conspicuous lack of quality bowlers.
Currently, we have exactly six divisional teams that are going to compete in the so-called ‘National League’. All matches will be played at a single venue in Dhaka. How do the BCB officials propose that this will (a) improve the overall standard of Bangladeshi cricket, and/or (b) increase the popularity of the game in the rest of the country?
There will be absolutely no progress. In fact, we are collectively moving backwards thanks to a hopelessly inept, haphazardly run, nepotistic organization called the BCB.
Measures to democratize the Board were reversed by the present government on the ridiculous pretext that there is no provision for such a move in the constitution of the National Sports Council.
Our league structure is losing its national character, and once again becoming a Dhaka-centered event. The competition is not even going to be as competitive as it was previously, when it ought to be more so.
No effort has been made to develop new pitches in other parts of the country. Nothing has been done about dilapidated stadiums. Again, everything revolves around Dhaka, and to a lesser degree, Chittagong.
In the face of a rapidly deteriorating situation, the government and the BCB has to take quick, remedial action. The first step would entail democratization of the Board, thereby ensuring that dedicated individuals with relevant credentials are running the show.
The question is: are Ali Asghar Lobi, Aliul Islam, Mohsin Kamal and company humble enough to admit their shortcomings, and do they have the courage to institute the necessary changes?
If not, we should continue to expect dismal performances as in the recent past. One day the ICC will run out of patience, and demote us to Associate status again, which will be another first in the history of global cricket. Having set countless negative world records, we should not make room for any more. After all, there are no trophies for losing.
The result itself was a forgone conclusion, and the manner in which our team folded was testament to the poor work being carried out by the current leadership of the BCB. Bangladeshi cricket fans cannot but cry out in anguish at the utter ineptitude of our cricketing officials.
The BCB has failed on several fronts, not just one. Poor team selection is but one of the ills facing Bangladeshi cricket. Questions have to be asked about Chief Selector Aliul Islam, who arbitrarily opted to drop proven players and gambled with the selection of others.
No one can justify the absence of Al Shahriar Rokon, who has been our best opener in tests, despite his lackluster performance in One Day Internationals.
The inclusion of Anwar Hossain was a complete disaster, and was a gamble that did not bode well right from the start due to his obvious lack of exposure. He was picked on the basis of only one performance, and that too in a hastily organized Challenge Trophy.
Attempting to strengthen the middle order with Aminul Islam Bulbul was laughable, given that he is now the wrong side of 35, and Bangladesh has a bevy of up-and-coming talent to take his place.
Finally, one cannot help being embarrassed at the inclusion of two specialist spinners, instead of using three pace bowlers. What indeed were the selectors thinking?
Bangladesh is playing a series at home, so our ace in the sleeve is perfect knowledge of pitch conditions. Sri Lankan groundsmen were brought in to make the pitch at the Bangabandhu National Stadium more bouncy, yet we still fielded only one seamer.
The West Indians made it perfectly clear that seamers should have been fielded after Vasbert Drakes, Jermaine Lawson, Pedro Collins and Daren Powell made such incisive inroads into our batting attack. As a new inclusion to World Cricket, we have a thing or two to learn from our superior opponents. Yet we fail even to copy the simplest of their tactical decisions.
Heads should be rolling not only in the actual cricket team, which changes from match to match before anybody has even familiarized themselves with the names of the new players. Heads should be rolling in the Selection Committee, and significant changes must be effected at all other levels of the BCB.
Everybody recognizes the need for accountability in the BCB, except for the BCB officials themselves. This backward attitude has to change immediately.
The nomination of Saber Hossain Chowdhury as the former cricket boss was a stroke of extremely good luck. However, it is not a carte blanche for the BCB to continue being run by an appointee of the government, or that it should continue to be operated on an ad hoc basis, as is presently the case.
The BCB can no longer be run arbitrarily according to the whims of a cricketing non-entity. In our case, that person is Ali Asghar Lobi, who has next to no cricketing credentials.
Furthermore, what cricketing background do the sons of our current prime minister have that they merit a say in cricketing affairs? It is a total mockery of democratic principles and good governance to support such blatant nepotism.
The sooner the current crop of officials realizes this self-evident truth the better. We have lost 16 test matches and 24 ODIs on the trot, setting negative world records in both forms of the game.
Bangladeshi cricket fans have not been witness to any significant overall improvements in our performances, bar one or two heroic individual efforts. This calls for drastic action.
Selection aside, questions have to be asked about the standard of coaching. There has been no transparency in the hiring process of Bangladesh cricket’s top job. Given the sparse information that was disseminated by the media, the BCB selected Mohsin Kamal based solely on recommendations by former Pakistan players.
No detailed assessment was made of his past coaching credentials. As a player he was neither world class, nor did he gain a significant amount of experience in the international arena. He played exactly 9 tests and 19 ODIs, so we are certainly not being led by a cricketing genius. In other words, he is very much dispensable.
It is also high time that our cricket officials realize that coaches from the Subcontinent are a risky option. Mohinder Amarnath proved to be more than a handful when he left without a word after dismal performances in the ICC Trophy.
A lesson could also have been learnt from our neighbors, none of who are working with local coaches. This is testament to the fact that they either lack the necessary professionalism (a la Javed Miandad) or the experience to prevail at this level.
Besides, the BCB should be contemplating a more rigorous recruitment procedure than the one described earlier. The applicant’s past playing and coaching experience must be examined. Through interviews, the BCB has to elicit the applicant’s motivation for the job, and what exactly he intends to do for Bangladesh cricket, as well as how exactly he will go about doing it.
Given the haphazard way that the BCB is being run, and the farcical performances of our team, we can conclude that neither the BCB, nor Mohsin Kamal, have any concrete plans to induce future improvements. It remains for them to prove me wrong.
The list of failures does not even stop there. Our domestic competitions are of a dismally poor standard. So-called top performers in the National League fail to have any impact at the international level.
They are hopelessly exposed when facing top-caliber players, mainly because their domestic competitors do not challenge them. This is compounded by the uniform pitch conditions throughout the country: slow and flat wickets, which only help the batsmen. Hence our conspicuous lack of quality bowlers.
Currently, we have exactly six divisional teams that are going to compete in the so-called ‘National League’. All matches will be played at a single venue in Dhaka. How do the BCB officials propose that this will (a) improve the overall standard of Bangladeshi cricket, and/or (b) increase the popularity of the game in the rest of the country?
There will be absolutely no progress. In fact, we are collectively moving backwards thanks to a hopelessly inept, haphazardly run, nepotistic organization called the BCB.
Measures to democratize the Board were reversed by the present government on the ridiculous pretext that there is no provision for such a move in the constitution of the National Sports Council.
Our league structure is losing its national character, and once again becoming a Dhaka-centered event. The competition is not even going to be as competitive as it was previously, when it ought to be more so.
No effort has been made to develop new pitches in other parts of the country. Nothing has been done about dilapidated stadiums. Again, everything revolves around Dhaka, and to a lesser degree, Chittagong.
In the face of a rapidly deteriorating situation, the government and the BCB has to take quick, remedial action. The first step would entail democratization of the Board, thereby ensuring that dedicated individuals with relevant credentials are running the show.
The question is: are Ali Asghar Lobi, Aliul Islam, Mohsin Kamal and company humble enough to admit their shortcomings, and do they have the courage to institute the necessary changes?
If not, we should continue to expect dismal performances as in the recent past. One day the ICC will run out of patience, and demote us to Associate status again, which will be another first in the history of global cricket. Having set countless negative world records, we should not make room for any more. After all, there are no trophies for losing.