reverse_swing
April 4, 2005, 01:04 PM
Bishwajit Roy
For Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore first thing comes first. He was not even ready to entertain the whisperings of whether he will be at the helm or not after his contract expires in September this year.
Rather, the 50-year-old tactician wanted to make the most of the month-long training, which started at the Army Stadium yesterday, ahead of the demanding England tour.
Bangladesh will embark on their maiden series in England next month with the first Test starting at Lord's on May 26-30.
"Right now I'm not thinking about anything other than the coming English assignment. This particular set of games against England is probably very important. We all know that exposure is very big in places like England, so for us to put up a good showing is even more important on this tour than others," said Whatmore after the first day's workout with 20 probables.
Fresh after a successful home series against Zimbabwe that preceded a mouthful one-day triumph over India, the Sri Lankan-born Australian said that he wanted to take inspiration from those successes.
"The month of January was very good for us and it will definitely help the boys to face a bigger challenge in England. We will be expecting some of our boys to continue in their progress of improving," said Whatmore.
He however admitted that the current England team, ranked second behind Australia in the ICC Test rankings, would be no less hostile than the biting cold and the wicket suited their bowlers most.
"We all know that they rank second in Test. We will play in their own conditions and in May England can get very cold. So, we need to battle the conditions first and then need to battle against the opposition."
"It's a tall task but nevertheless an improving side will have to dwell against this sort of condition," he continued.
Watmore's last visit to England with the Tigers was in the ICC Champions Trophy last year and it was a bitter experience -- two heavy defeats against South Africa and eventual winners West Indies.
But the witty Bangladesh coach expects a better result in the triangular series, which will follow the two Tests. World champions Australia are the other team.
"It was totally a different competition where we had played only two games. We had not much time to recover from a bad game. A number of other teams had suffered the same fate. But in triangular one-day tournament after two Tests, we have six matches, obviously our goal is to make the final," said Whatmore smilingly.
Regarding the two new faces in the preliminary squad, Whatmore said he was happy to see someone coming and trying hard to make an impression.
"Obviously they were selected on merit. It is good that we have a couple of new faces every now and than coming in. I think you have seen both of them working very hard today in the fitness testing and pressing their claims to be selected," said Whatmore about right-arm paceman Shahadat Hossain Rajib and left-handed opener Shahriar Nafees Ahmed.
-The DailyStar
For Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore first thing comes first. He was not even ready to entertain the whisperings of whether he will be at the helm or not after his contract expires in September this year.
Rather, the 50-year-old tactician wanted to make the most of the month-long training, which started at the Army Stadium yesterday, ahead of the demanding England tour.
Bangladesh will embark on their maiden series in England next month with the first Test starting at Lord's on May 26-30.
"Right now I'm not thinking about anything other than the coming English assignment. This particular set of games against England is probably very important. We all know that exposure is very big in places like England, so for us to put up a good showing is even more important on this tour than others," said Whatmore after the first day's workout with 20 probables.
Fresh after a successful home series against Zimbabwe that preceded a mouthful one-day triumph over India, the Sri Lankan-born Australian said that he wanted to take inspiration from those successes.
"The month of January was very good for us and it will definitely help the boys to face a bigger challenge in England. We will be expecting some of our boys to continue in their progress of improving," said Whatmore.
He however admitted that the current England team, ranked second behind Australia in the ICC Test rankings, would be no less hostile than the biting cold and the wicket suited their bowlers most.
"We all know that they rank second in Test. We will play in their own conditions and in May England can get very cold. So, we need to battle the conditions first and then need to battle against the opposition."
"It's a tall task but nevertheless an improving side will have to dwell against this sort of condition," he continued.
Watmore's last visit to England with the Tigers was in the ICC Champions Trophy last year and it was a bitter experience -- two heavy defeats against South Africa and eventual winners West Indies.
But the witty Bangladesh coach expects a better result in the triangular series, which will follow the two Tests. World champions Australia are the other team.
"It was totally a different competition where we had played only two games. We had not much time to recover from a bad game. A number of other teams had suffered the same fate. But in triangular one-day tournament after two Tests, we have six matches, obviously our goal is to make the final," said Whatmore smilingly.
Regarding the two new faces in the preliminary squad, Whatmore said he was happy to see someone coming and trying hard to make an impression.
"Obviously they were selected on merit. It is good that we have a couple of new faces every now and than coming in. I think you have seen both of them working very hard today in the fitness testing and pressing their claims to be selected," said Whatmore about right-arm paceman Shahadat Hossain Rajib and left-handed opener Shahriar Nafees Ahmed.
-The DailyStar