Age

[fwullah]

According to Prothom Alo, Akram Khan has just reached 34 a few days ago, Aminul Islam will be 35 in this February, Minhazul Abedin is now 37.

It just makes one wonder how they can be playing even in the A team with their age, especially when none of them are regular man of the matches for Bangladesh National Team like Aravinda De Silva of Sri Lanka.

A lot of people compare Aravinda De Silva's age with the three of them. But nobody says that having a player of De Silva's class makes a lot of difference in winning a match at the highest level.

On the other hand, we have to consider this whether the inclusion of Aminul Islam, Akram Khan or Minhazul Abedin would be helping the Bangladesh team to a possible draw in test matches.

[Mahmood]

Forget age, their performence alone rules them out.

Akram - Will always suck in Test. He doesnt have the courage to face it.

Nannu - Won't get a chance to play test Cricket. Right when he had the chance to earn his way in, he decides to go into bad form. Great timing.

Bulbul - Challenge Trophy performence hasn't impressed me at all. We need a stable middle order, and Bulbul is not the answer.

[Pundit]

I am still baffled on why we keep on having this debate over and over again ??

My thought process is very very simple - is the inclusion of any of these 3 going to make any difference to the final outcome of a BD game - very likely not. And should they be still allowed to play, and when, lets just say for the sake of argument, BD begins to draw matches in 3 yrs, what will their age be?? Near 40, right.

Someone can argue that Bashar is fairly old - but hey, none of the 3 are in the same league as him. They never were.

Counter argue me as much as u like, but we all know that each time they go out their and bat, we are depriving another younger Bulbul or Nannu of the opportunity to become a "TEST" batsman. To end, the very fact that these guys and Shanto are being trialed for the TEST team just goes to say that how hopeless-ly depleted our CURRENT domestic talent bank is.

[Edited on 7-11-2002 by Pundit]

[Sham]

Firstly, lets get this straight, all the ages are a couple of years short of the mark. Nannu being 37 is honestly a joke!

Now, age shouldnt be a problem, as long as you deserve a place in the side. Hence, the De Silvas, Steve Waughs and Alec Stewarts. However, our case is different. We are trying to find our feet in Test Cricket and quite clearly its better to do that with youngsters who have a long career ahead of them, rather than these oldies. I agree with Pundit, each time these guys go out to bat, they are depriving a younger batsman the opportunity to become a Test batsman.

Still, I dont want to make it so cut and dry. Every good side is a balance of youth and experience. I don't mind having one of these guys in the team, 1)if they score runs, and just as importantly, if they have a positive impact on the younger players. So, I havent dismissed them just yet. I hope the younger guys do well and get into the side, but whats the harm in letting these guys make a case, they may be old but they are still some of the best batsmen in Bangladesh.

ps. Raana bhai, in three innings in the Challenge Trophy, Bulbul was run out by Nannu in the first, scored an unbeaten half century in the second and got out in bizzare fashion in the third when his cap fell on the bails. Cant blame him for the two times he did get out. Sure is hard to impress you!