2nd Test: BD-U19 vs Eng-U19

[Navarene]

Originally posted by allrounder
But it is also necessary to point out the things that they have done wrong, especially when they repeat the mistakes everytime.

Now lets see the way you have "pointed out the things that they have done wrong" thru the following quote of your own:

BD is the worst cricket nation I have seen so far. They should be used as a team to practise with for all other cricket teams.

What I mean to point out is that please breath deep and stop mumbling out wayward craps that might take neither you nor our cricket to anywhere.

question to our U-19 coach:
You have some good batsmen in your belt who are capable of scoring big runs(for instance Nafees, Aftab, Dhiman, Nasif etc). We believe that you are aware of the fact that they consistantly fail to keep it in mind "the demand of the match situation, what team needs now"(mzia) and end up hitting some quick 6's and 4's and then collapse. Do you point out to your boys how important it is to play according to the merit and situation of the match?

[chinaman]

The second test had a disappointing conclusion when we could only set England 56 runs to win in the 2nd innings. Again had we been able to set them around 200 or 250 it would have been a genuine chance as there were some good footmarks for our spinners to work with and Nazmul Hossain is bowling well.

Aftab batted very well in the second innings to score 91 and is demonstrating a new level of maturity with his batting. It has been a tough challenge to get him to do this, but I am pleased with the progress he has made and hope he can take this into the Champion’s trophy. He received a very good ball from England Luke Wright in the last over, yesterday, that pitched on middle and off and moved away getting a faint edge on the way through.

Aftab and Nadif batted very well to get through a very good spell of bowling, to add 88 for the 5th wicket before Nadif was caught behind to a ball that swung a long way from medium pacer James Hildreth.

To summarise the test without going through all the scores, some key points can be identified

• Our batsmen struggled with the swinging ball as we simply don’t have to face it in Bangladesh, not for more than a few overs anyway. In England the balls swings for 80 overs. A problem we have identified is that our practice matches have been played with a type of ball (Readers) that does not swing nearly as much as the Dukes ball which is used in the Test matches. The standard of the opposition teams in the practice matches has been good, but the ball has not swung as much and we have spun teams out.
  
• A positive is that most of our batsmen are not throwing their wickets away and have developed much more patience. They are being dismissed to caught balls, some they may be able to let go, but when the ball is swinging a lot that is always difficult to do. Steve Davies, the England keeper collected 9 catches for the match, Alistair Cook at 1st slip 2, Patel at 2nd slip 1 along with 3 players bowled by swinging deliveries. That is 17 of 20 dismissals for the match. Nazim Uddin was lbw in the first innings to a ball that would have got most batsmen out, although it may have been swinging too much. The only foolish shots were Dhiman in both innings and Mushfiqur Rahim in the second innings.
  
• The Bangladesh team displayed magnificent fighting ability with the ball and with a little more experience bowling with a ball that swings will be formidable opposition in time. We spent 5 weeks at BKSP working with the bowlers on swinging the ball, but it is just not the same as real match practice.
  
• Absolute summary – we need more practice both batting against and bowling with a ball that swings for extended period of time.
  
• Observing the match from the stands it was a case of men playing boys in terms of experience, regardless of the players’ ages. The talk on the field during a match from the English players indicated a higher level of understanding of the game then our team. The fact that many of the English team are playing in County 1st XI’s is a major factor. James Hildreth for example has spent the last 5 weeks batting at 4 with Ricky Ponting at 3 for Somerset, there is no where in Bangladesh for our players to gain this on field experience.
  
• Making comparisons between the U19 and National team is foolish and of no real benefit to anyone. Both teams are playing in different competitions and you can’t compare apples with oranges.
  
• A major issue is the level of domestic cricket in Bangladesh, is that players aged 20 are basically the leading players in the competition and there fore are not really challenged. The quality and quantity of cricket played is making it near impossible for our players to ever compete with leading international teams. The concept of playing 132 games in 40 something days on four grounds summarises where the priorities of our domestic cricket lies. The important fact is to ensure people can play so they can earn their income, and this is very important. However in order to strengthen our international cricket the format of domestic cricket needs to change so it provides a better breeding ground for test cricket. The only way to do this is to have the 4 Day National League competition as the premier competition in the country. It is easier to adapt from 4 day cricket back to one day cricket rather than the other way around. This is an issue beyond my control, but one that I feel needs addressing not just from with the BCB, but from the cricket public who wish the national team to compete internationally.

Please remain patient and keep looking for ways to improve rather than opportunities to criticise, although constructive well thought out criticism is always welcome.

Cheers.

[Beamer]

Great stuff from the Coach. Very Valuable info indeed. We just need to be patient as well and support the players. It is great to see a coach communicating very candidly with the public and he has been fair with us, unlike some print media people back home who undertook a smear campaign against him. We had to read a lot of garbage from them painting McIness very negatively. I know its offtopic but the murky diluted picture that was painted, is baseless nonetheless.

[Piranha]

Yes, Thanks again for being so frank and open with us. It means a lot to fans like us.

It is good to learn that most of the wickets that went down were due to good bowling rather than poor shot selection. This speaks volumes about the importance of such tours.

One thing, I must mention. After Nafees Iqbal scored the magnificient 266, many members expressed skepticism about the achievement. I have no doubt that the achievement was genuine and worth praise, but it does however re-inforce the view among the fans that we are a team of practice match bullies. When the push comes to shove, our batsmen's nerves fail and they struggle to stand up and be counted (apologies for so many cliches).

There is no doubt that the Coach and the players are aware of this problem and are working to resolve it. The question is, how long will it take to solve and is 'more match practice' the only solution?

[IanW]

[quote]Originally posted by chinaman[*] However in order to strengthen our international cricket the format of domestic cricket needs to change so it provides a better breeding ground for test cricket. The only way to do this is to have the 4 Day National League competition as the premier competition in the country. It is easier to adapt from 4 day cricket back to one day cricket rather than the other way around. This is an issue beyond my control, but one that I feel needs addressing not just from with the BCB, but from the cricket public who wish the national team to compete internationally.[/list]
A long time ago, the legendary Australian cricket broadcaster (and ex-Bradman era NSW player) Alan McGilvray proposed that rather than one-day or four-day cricket, teams play two day games, with each side getting 100 overs.

If you got the other side out early, you got any overs they had left.

That way, batsmen had enough time to play long innings, and bowlers had an incentive to take wickets, rather than bowl to contain.

He also noted that the majority of Test innings lasted 100 overs or less, and that a full days batting was more than enough to score centuries.

This could be something for Bangladesh to think about, as a compromise between one-day cricket and real cricket.

Ian Whitchurch

[Piranha]

IanW, I hadn't heard that before, but it does seem very promising. I wonder why no one ever picked up on it though.

I think the only true solution is to have an extended league with all varities of games. A bit like the ENglish system that has one day, longer versions, as well as a 20twenty version

[bourny3]

Why didnt shamsur Rahman play in this game

[observer]

The 2 day match format is what is played through the Australia capital cities as the top competition below the first class arena. It is a good form of cricket and as Ian points out many teams struggle to bat for 100 overs anyway, so i think this may be a good starting point.

As for Shamsu Rahman, this is a development tour so we are rotating players, hence Nazim Uddin played in the second test. You will find in the third test a few more changes to ensure that all players gain valuable experience, which is the aim of the tour at this stage of their development.

[chinaman]

James Hildreth

[chinaman]

[chinaman]

[PoorFan]

How come we cant see our boys?

[Nasif]

well, u19 games doesn't get as much coverage and pictures.

But you can take a peek at our three u19s:
Nafis
Nazmul
Aftab

[PoorFan]

Thank you nasif.
Like to see all of their picture in future.

[chinaman]

Take a look at the following link:

http://banglacricket.com/files/bdparade.jpg

[PoorFan]

My god! the whole team looks so young!
Hope their best. Thank you chinaman.

[Zobair]

Well they are the U19s poorfan Some of them (as in the current tour of England) are significantly U19 and will probably play a couple of U19 cups before they are overage. These are our future. Never despair!

[Zobair]

My heart goes out to the young man. What a time to pick up an injury like that?! I had a similar one (from jogging uphill for a couple of hours after a long gap :P ). It put my out of commission for 1 month and some more. Very painful! Best of luck to him and hope he pulls through. Coach! plese keep us updated about his condition and also good luck working with Abdur Razzak's action. Hope to hear some positive news about him from you soon.

[Bangla Mostan]

well done Bangladesh..really its time you finally wake up and stop perfoming soo well in insignificant matches...like the practice matches and start concentrating on the important ones.

[chinaman]

Originally posted by Bangla Mostan
well done Bangladesh..really its time you finally wake up and stop perfoming soo well in insignificant matches...like the practice matches and start concentrating on the important ones.

I think you need to wake up yourself and stop calling things like "insignificant matches".

There is no such thing called insignificant matches. It is the exposure, experience and variations in conditions that matters most.

[IanW]

Originally posted by Bangla Mostan
well done Bangladesh..really its time you finally wake up and stop perfoming soo well in insignificant matches...like the practice matches and start concentrating on the important ones.

Winning is a habit.

Dominating games is a habit.

Knowing you have destroyed attacks a long way away from home is something critical for the development of young cricketers.

And thats what has happened for several of the young Bangladeshi batsmen.

OK, so they lost on the last day against their opposite numbers in England.

Big fat hairy deal. Any time a class batsman gets a double ton, you probably arent going to win ... and JC Hildreth is a class batsman. This is what the ECB say about him "He made a century in only his second first-class match for the county in May 2004 when he made 101 against Durham at Taunton before he was eventually dismissed by Shoaib Akhtar".

They also got batsmen come out of it with experience in English conditions, and some of them even got in amongst the runs.

Oh yeah, and Shahadat is back.

The tour is already a success. If any of the players in it get a contract to play club cricket, it's a resounding success.

Ian Whitchurch

[Zobair]

Now Ian you bring up an interesting point. I wonder if there are scouts from the county teams watching some of these U19 matches. It would be very welcome news indeed if a couple of our players are picked up for some club cricket in England.

Edited on, August 16, 2004, 7:57 AM GMT, by pompous.

[mohd azam]

Tue 17 - Fri 20 Aug 3rd test will start 2moro

Edited on, August 16, 2004, 8:21 AM GMT, by mohd azam.

[IanW]

Originally posted by pompous
Now Ian you bring up an interesting point. I wonder if there are scouts from the county teams watching some of these U19 matches. It would be very welcome news indeed if a couple of our players are picked up for some club cricket in England.

Edited on, August 16, 2004, 7:57 AM GMT, by pompous.

Getting a player into a County squad in England would be great.

But if I was Coach McInness, I'd be doing a ringaround of the Lancashire League, and be on the phone to clubs in Australia and New Zealand.