Poor educational background - is it the reason behind our cricketers poor ability to learn ?

[Eshen]

We often wonder why cricketers like Ashraful and Aftab show so little understanding of the game after playing in international arena so many years, why they don't learn from their mistakes and keep making the same mistakes over and over. Here is Yousuf Rahman Babu's (a Bangladeshi cricketer from early eighties) view on the matter -

Cricket is a game that is played 80% with your head and 20% with the rest of your body. No matter how physically fit and strong you may be, if you cannot think and apply in the middle, you become ineffective and non-productive. I found it quite amusing when our media and the others in BD cricket found it exciting when our cricketers were subjected to a so called "commando" training organised by the BD Army. Simply put, if brawn was the only factor, then all the jawans would be excellent cricketers. That exercise, other than a cheap publicity stunt has not achieved anything positive. As expected, our boys were thrashed and humiliated against the Sri Lankans.

Prior to the 90's, the best players of the country came from the country's educational institutions. In the National Championships Dhaka University fielded the best team in the country. Schools like Scholastica, and Wills Little Flower produced some of the best young cricketers in the country. These players were scholar athletes. Slowly and systematically we have destroyed this process. Today, our cricketers are either illiterate or at best half-educated, which means that they have not even finished high school. Those that boast about going to college are enrolled only as a gesture. It would be interesting to test their academic skills. The opportunity to learn from the game's best players is lost because their lack of education prevents them from developing their communication skills. Good communication skills create inspiration amongst the players and we all know that a successful unit depends on communication and inspiration. I am not sure if our cricket team has these two qualities.

There is a myth circulated and established in Bangladesh by our administrators. If you play cricket you have to drop out of your academic programme. I clearly recall the past Chairman of the Selection Committee mentioning this to my nephew when he was barely 14 years old. Those who preach and practice this principle are committing a severe social crime. What is their responsibility to the ones who are not going to make the national grade? These youngsters will give up their studies to pursue a career in cricket, which eventually can be a high paying profession provided they make the grade. If not, which most of them will not, they are left to fend for themselves.

Some may argue that there are players like Sachin Tendulkar and a few others in Pakistan and India that have not finished high school. First of all, Tendulkar is a gifted genius and I don't think there will another Tendulkar in the next 40 to 50 years. Secondly, countries like India and Pakistan have set and developed their game encompassing players that came from highly educated background. Even Tendulkar developed his cricket amongst players with strong educational back grounds. It is a cact that Pakistani administrators are seriously concerned about their players' lack of proper educational background. There is no doubt that this drawback has hampered the team's performances in recent times. One should check the educational background of the senior Indian and Sri Lankan players. Sangakkara, one of the best wicket-keeper batsman in the world, studied law and I am told, is a qualified attorney. Mahendra Dhoni, apparently has enrolled himself into a from programme to enhance his education base. Why should one of the richest players in India have to go back to school? There is a valid reason for this.

Several years ago, during the days of former BCB Chief Macky Dudhia, I had submitted a plan on setting up a programme to educate our young cricketers. When I met Macky at Lord's during the Bangladesh-England Test, he expressed his disappointment in not being able to do anything with my memo although he believed in its substance totally. The plan is a simple one and is based on the US NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) program. Just to make the readers aware, Tiger Woods attended Stanford University as did John McEnroe the former Tennis great. Similarly, most of the best sportsmen in the USA have come through the collegiate programme including basketball greats Larry Bird, Irwin "Magic" Johnson, Shaquue O'Neal and countless others. Although they got enrolled in high profile US colleges under athletic scholarships, they had to maintain their required academic grades in order to keep their scholarships intact. The same principal can be applied to Bangladesh Cricket.

The ideal place to introduce such a programme would be the BCB Cricket Academy.

* Make it mandatory for all players to be full time students maintaining an average B grade. The BCB should hire 3 teachers on its own - one each for English, Math and Science. The players' training programme should be inclusive of their academic skills. If they fail to maintain their academic grades, they are to be dropped from the programme.

Schools and other educational institutions must be encouraged to promote the game. Student cricketers are to be carefully monitored. Again, if they drop their academic grades, they have to drop out of the cricket programme. The Board should not consider drop outs for selection.

Selection for the National teams should also be based on the academic skills of the players. The minimum average educational qualification of a player has to be a bachelor's degree. Again, no school drop - outs should be considered for selection. If the players do not make the academic grade they lose their position in the side and with that they lose their pay. Believe me, if they lose their income, they will study and make up their grades.

There is no use in hiring expensive high quality coaches for our poorly educated cricketers. It is a case of a Ph.D trying to teach physics to a group of elementary school students. Dav Whatmore, after being associated with our players for several years, expressed his frustration in Bangladesh's last WC pre-match interview.

He basically resigned to the fact that the players were just boys, over-zealous and simply lacked the experience and understanding on how to apply their potential abilities once they were in the middle. This was from a man who had coached BD cricket to supposedly great heights and is considered one of the best in the business. Since then, Whatmore has taken over the Indian Cricket Academy and their Under-19 squad that recently won the World Cup. Again, it is not up to the coach who imparts the training but to the players who must receive. They can only receive if they have the understanding and the education to support their ability to understand.

Give Jamie Siddons another year or two and he will also leave with similar sentiments.

Once the BCB sets the selection standards, the players will follow. At the moment it is the blind leading the blind. If Ashraful had come from a sound academic background and truly knew what cricket was all about, he would never have reacted the way he did when he got into a fist fight with a fan in the stands. This is unacceptable behaviour for any cricketer and the fact that he is the standing skipper of the national side makes it unpardonable. The way the BCB handled the situation is also quite appalling. It only goes to show the weakness of the BCB. Imagine someone like Ricky Ponting or Anil Kumble jumping into the stands to fight the crowd! Andy Flintoff was removed from his position when he was involved in a late night drinking binge during the World Cup of 2007. I wonder if local club interest prevailed over national interest in this case!

There is still time to save our cricket and our future cricketers. Implement the programme without any delay and if we are lucky, we may see the results in about 5 years or so. If not, we will continue to see personnel changes in the Board who will sing the same song like a broken record "We need more time."

Remember playing cricket and becoming a cricketer are two different things. Cricket creates character. It is a way of life and the are lessons to be learnt from this great game. Bangladesh is producing cricket players only. It is time we started producing some cricketers.

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/200...7/news0839.htm

[Kabir]

I doubt it. If that was the case, Pakistan would've been a huge failure today.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Kabir
I doubt it. If that was the case, Pakistan would've been a huge failure today.

and Columbia would always win the NCAA in every sport.

[bdchamp20]

So how come the 'educated' likes of Shahriar Nafees and co. not learning too?

[Eshen]

On contrary to what Yousuf Babu said, we can give example of Rafique who is poorly educated and has poor communication skills, yet shows a resilient character and has been successful as a cricketer. On the other hand we have Rokon who is well educated but has shown poor ability to learn and grow as a cricketer.

I don't think BCB should make any educational standard mandatory for entries into national team, but I do think that we need a good bunch of players with good communication skills and strong characters. A good education is often the factor that help people gain those qualities (communication skills and character). It will be very wise of BCB not to encourage young cricketers to ditch their education. Sports institutes like BKSP and BCB academy should put more emphasis on development of good communication skills among their pupils. Players should go through character and team building exercise like commando training when they are in BKSP or in academy, not in later stages of their careers when it will make little impact.

[PoorFan]

I used to deny educational background has anything to do with cricket, but now I believe, especially in Bangladeshi culture and mindset it has more to do.

[Sadz]

Sure, a brain is needed but not neccesseraly an eduactional background. Ashraful did finish his HSC exams didn'nt he?

[Sadz]

Eshen, i do however partly agree with your views because without Good coomunication and thinking skills no-one would prosper, especially in a team where rash shots are a big probability.

[AsifTheManRahman]

I find the article pretty insulting and stereotypical. If our former players don't have anything innovative to offer, they should just shut up. Shoaib/Sami re khelte dile to pant bhijay felto - tokhon koi jaito shalader college degree?

[Eshen]

Originally Posted by Kabir
I doubt it. If that was the case, Pakistan would've been a huge failure today.

Pakistan is actually a good example how lack of good education can hamper your team. The country has such an abundance of talented cricketers but the national team is still dysfunctional !

You can also look at the example of Sri Lanka whose cricketers shows good degrees professionalism that, I believe, because of their good educations.

[sandpiper]

What education did Inzamamul Haq get (to score 20,000 runs) ?

[mahbubH]

Originally Posted by Eshen
On contrary to what Yousuf Babu said, we can give example of Rafique who is poorly educated and has poor communication skills, yet shows a resilient character and has been successful as a cricketer. On the other hand we have Rokon who is well educated but has shown poor ability to learn and grow as a cricketer.

In what measure Rokon is well educated?

[Eshen]

Originally Posted by sports_fan_bd
In what measure Rokon is well educated?

He has attended Dhaka university for few years, although I am not sure if he has completed his bachelors. He is definitely one of the better educated cricketers in Bangladesh.

IMO, it's not necessary for players to have university degrees. But for individual growth, youngsters should participate in normal school system at least until the 12th grade. Unfortunately, most of our current generation of cricketers have not have that opportunity.

[capslock]

Originally Posted by Kabir
I doubt it. If that was the case, Pakistan would've been a huge failure today.

You can pretty much end the thread right there.

[Zunaid]

It is not about education but about intelligence. There are folks who have not had the luxury of college education who are many times more intelligent than those privileged who have.

And it is not just traditional bookish education that will make someone excel in some sport. I point you to Gardner (of Harvard school of Ed) and his widely accepted "Theory of Multiple Intelligences".

Here's a brief pointer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_..._intelligences

His 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences is a must read.

The relevant one is
Bodily-Kinesthetic

This area has to do with movement and doing. In this category, people are generally adept at physical activities such as sports or dance and often prefer activities which utilize movement. They may enjoy acting or performing, and in general they are good at building and making things. They often learn best by physically doing something, rather than reading or hearing about it. Those with strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligence seem to use what might be termed muscle memory; i.e., they remember things through their body, rather than through words (verbal memory) or images (visual memory). It requires the skills and dexterity for fine motor movements such as those required for dancing, athletics, surgery, craftmaking, and computer engineering, etc.

Careers which suit those with this intelligence include athletes, dancers, actors, surgeons, comedians, builders, soldiers and artisans.

[Source for the above: wiki]

On a lighter note, who remembers our member mba from three years ago?

[Dhurr]

The fact that he even mentions D-1 athletes makes his argument invalid. The educational requirements for athletes in D-1 schools is laughable. Shaq? SERIOUSLY? Carmelo went to Syracuse for a year; ask anyone who went to Syracuse at the time what kinda classes he took and their level of difficulty.

Eshen is on the spot again. Any mention of Rafique nullifies this elitist argument from Yousuf Babu. Yes, players should not be discouraged from getting an education, but no, going to an institute of higher education will not guarantee success on the field.

Zunaid Bhai, was mba that troll from India?

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Dhurr

Zunaid Bhai, was mba that troll from India?

Naaah. I believe he was one of our own trolls

I present you:

type/level/quality of literacy
mba

[Dhurr]

Originally Posted by Zunaid
Naaah. I believe he was one of our own trolls

I present you:

type/level/quality of literacy
mba

LOL Public re eibar mone porse. Beta ekdom hero number 1 chilo.

[al Furqaan]

sports education and scholastic education are completely different.

case in point, a friend of mine is a vanderbilt alumus, a UT-austin MBA, and has a six-figure salary from wal-mart, starting salary. he's a very bright person, though not a genius.

he went to high school with a couple of fellows named trenton hassell and shawn marion. both were "dumb as rocks" in the words of my friend, ronnie bhai.

according to ESPN, hassel made USD 4,800,000 in 2008 alone.

source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/player...?playerId=0998

and marion earned a whopping $16,440,000.

"but hey, they're the ones making all the money," said ronnie bhai.

[Ajfar]

shudu poralekha jana thaklei hoi na...u hav to want to learn...

[sunny747]

What is poralekha? how much is a good poralekha for our cricketers? Most of them are not even hsc/ssc passed which is the basic of all.
cricket is just not a game, it's an invention. invention of your skill. If you don't use your brain, then you won't be able to cultivate your brain.

At least the captain should be educated to a level where he can communicate well. He can be a role model for the rest of the players.

yesterday, while watching the price giving ceremony of sl vs india, i noticed Mendis brought Jawardanee as a translator as his english is not the best.

Can Ash lead his boys like this?

[Ahmed_B]

And once again.. history repeates itself here at BC..

[enaner]

Originally Posted by Zunaid
It is not about education but about intelligence. There are folks who have not had the luxury of college education who are many times more intelligent than those privileged who have.

And it is not just traditional bookish education that will make someone excel in some sport. I point you to Gardner (of Harvard school of Ed) and his widely accepted "Theory of Multiple Intelligences".

Here's a brief pointer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_..._intelligences

His 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences is a must read.

The relevant one is
Bodily-Kinesthetic

This area has to do with movement and doing. In this category, people are generally adept at physical activities such as sports or dance and often prefer activities which utilize movement. They may enjoy acting or performing, and in general they are good at building and making things. They often learn best by physically doing something, rather than reading or hearing about it. Those with strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligence seem to use what might be termed muscle memory; i.e., they remember things through their body, rather than through words (verbal memory) or images (visual memory). It requires the skills and dexterity for fine motor movements such as those required for dancing, athletics, surgery, craftmaking, and computer engineering, etc.

Careers which suit those with this intelligence include athletes, dancers, actors, surgeons, comedians, builders, soldiers and artisans.

[Source for the above: wiki]

On a lighter note, who remembers our member mba from three years ago?

Zunaid Bhai, you said it but you don't even know what you said.

Those with strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligence seem to use what might be termed muscle memory; i.e., they remember things through their body, rather than through words (verbal memory) or images (visual memory). It requires the skills and dexterity for fine motor movements such as those required for dancing, athletics, surgery, craftmaking, and computer engineering, etc.

that explains the impulsive rash shot selection of our boys. Perhaps if they were a bit more educated they could have used their heads to control their bodily movements.

[BANFAN]

I think so.
A good basic education is offcourse necessary. That makes a player capable of doing many things right.

Things like swings/reversing/spinning/shots under these situations... etc gets much more easy if he has a basic understanding. Mukhaostho kore aar kotodur jaoa jaye. Now they have to follow the coach on 'Mukhasto' without undestanding the reasons.

Offcourse there are some people who have the intelligence to understand things in their way, even without having any education. These type of people are not too many. They are naturally thinking on every issue since their childhood, so they develop it naturally.

We don't have such thinking cricketers. No place for a brain.

[Spitfire_x86]

What a load of nonsense