Bangladesh will get better if they stop playing Tests

[Faisal]

Bangladesh will get better if they stop playing Test cricket.
January 24, 2008
Geoffrey Boycott answers readers queries about Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly's exclusion, why Australia lost at the WACA, and the role of administrators in regulating the on-field behaviour of players


Source: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/talk...ia/332899.html

[sandpiper]

কথা না বলতে পারলে ঐ বুইরার পেটের ভাত হজম হয় না।

[Rabz]

I dont think he said anything wrong.

He didnt go on to bash BD and only talked about what could be done to help grow our cricket.

if we keep on loosing on such margins, ppl would talk.

[wiseshah]

Originally Posted by sandpiper
কথা না বলতে পারলে ঐ বুইরার পেটের ভাত হজম হয় না।

lol, like ur comments.

[wiseshah]

Originally Posted by Rabz
I dont think he said anything wrong.

He didnt go on to bash BD and only talked about what could be done to help grow our cricket.

if we keep on loosing on such margins, ppl would talk.

again the solution is make two separate team. so more focus will be on the particular job.

[Sohel]

Bangladesh will get better once: -

1) We strengthen our domestic cricket: we need to play more FC and List-A matches, I'd say 15/15 form rather than the current 10/10 format, on a variety of sporting wickets. All 6 teams - each with its own A, U19 and U15 sides competing in respective tournaments - should have quality coaches focused on fundamental technique, and physios focused on all aspects of player fitness. Last but not least, BCB must do what is necessary to make NCL the premier domestic cricket competition in the country in terms of a) player compensation, b) media, especially TV coverage, and c) merchandizing.

2) We strengthen our A-team and keep it busy: we need to use the A-team - playing all year around against other A-teams and associate sides - to fill some of the discrepancy between the quality of our domestic cricket and the highest level. This can only prepare our players better for International cricket.

3) Pundits, selectors and overzealous fans take the more reasonable approach: we need to wait until #s 1 and 2 continue to evolve and our top players reach their late 20s. A transparent and reasonable selection process focused on a) talent in terms of the fundamentals, b) work ethic, and c) the demonstrable ability to learn quickly and apply in the middle, MUST replace the traditionally arbitrary selection and player development criteria. I propose we make the Coach our Chief Selector with his own team of scouts. They'll do better than guys who never really learned the fundamentals themselves. Sorry for sounding so harsh, but we cannot expect slashers and glorified parhar pileyarj who could never play through the line well enough to truly appreciate and value footwork and compact technique. No more jodi laigga jay ...

I expect Bangladesh under Coach Siddons to ease the typical anxieties over the next 2 years, make us a competitive side over the next 5, and a side to be reckoned with in 10 years Inshallah. A Zimbabwe-style, voluntary suspension of our test status is not a good option for us in light of better alternatives mentioned here.

Broken record.

[karimjay.]

Boycott has a point...

But then where's our pride when we do that? Sure we'll lose... but then'll start to lose gallantly.

Then we'll draw and fight.

And then we'll scare Australia.

[cricket_king]

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
Bangladesh will get better once: -

1) We strengthen our domestic cricket: we need to play more FC and List-A matches, I'd say 15/15 form rather than the current 10/10 format, on a variety of sporting wickets. All 6 teams - each with its own A, U19 and U15 sides competing in respective tournaments - should have quality coaches focused on fundamental technique, and physios focused on all aspects of player fitness. Last but not least, BCB must do what is necessary to make NCL the premier domestic cricket competition in the country in terms of a) player compensation, b) media, especially TV coverage, and c) merchandizing.

2) We strengthen our A-team and keep it busy: we need to use the A-team - playing all year around against other A-teams and associate sides - to fill some of the discrepancy between the quality of our domestic cricket and the highest level. This can only prepare our players better for International cricket.

3) Pundits, selectors and overzealous fans take the more reasonable approach: we need to wait until #s 1 and 2 continue to evolve and our top players reach their late 20s. A transparent and reasonable selection process focused on a) talent in terms of the fundamentals, b) work ethic, and c) the demonstrable ability to learn quickly and apply in the middle, MUST replace the traditionally arbitrary selection and player development criteria. I propose we make the Coach our Chief Selector with his own team of scouts. They'll do better than guys who never really learned the fundamentals themselves. Sorry for sounding so harsh, but we cannot expect slashers and glorified parhar pileyarj who could never play through the line well enough to truly appreciate and value footwork and compact technique. No more jodi laigga jay ...

I expect Bangladesh under Coach Siddons to ease the typical anxieties over the next 2 years, make us a competitive side over the next 5, and a side to be reckoned with in 10 years Inshallah. A Zimbabwe-style, voluntary suspension of our test status is not a good option for us in light of better alternatives mentioned here.

Broken record.

Same old. If only our horrendously pathetic board could do something about these problems rather than sit there pondering what to do...

[BD-Shardul]

Hmmmmmm..............

[Dhakablues]

Even the pandora's box now is empty!! I agree with what Boycott is saying and our board forced a fanatic Bangladesh supporter like me to sound like this. This is like turning Apples into a Boeing 787 like deal but our board managed the impossibile to convince some of us to side with Boycott!!.

Please please,, stop this child abuse and let professionals play cricket otherwise we risk a sanction against us for child labor by the ICC!!

[jeesh]

No its not true that we will get better if we stop playing Tests. But i strongly believe we should stop playing tests in the likes of New Zealand. Evertime we will go there, we will get hammered with absolutely no improvement. We dont even learn. Its just a waste of time and money. And whats more it puts pressure on the players and frustrates the fans. Instead we should focus on playing fewer test series, and more at home. For the short run i feel thats the best solution.
I also agree with Sohel, in the respect that we need to keep our A team busy.

[Dhrubo]

i believe we should'nt stop playing tests,because the more we play the more experience we get,you will never get better if you dont have a practice of a particular thing and it is true practice does make perfect and bd doesnt get much practice,we need to play like 10 to 15 tests a years to perfect up,just stopping play wont solve our problems,playing will slowly slove it up,a team cant just jump up so quickly you know.

[BANFAN]

Originally Posted by wiseshah
again the solution is make two separate team. so more focus will be on the particular job.

Isn't it expecting too much, while we are strugling to produce 15 good players for one form, how can you expect to have 30 of them?

A good player knows to adjust and is good in every form.

[Reaz]

Let us all boycott, Boycott.

[abu2abu]

Originally Posted by BANFAN
Isn't it expecting too much, while we are strugling to produce 15 good players for one form, how can you expect to have 30 of them?

A good player knows to adjust and is good in every form.

Spot on. Separate ODI and test teams will solve nothing. We don't have players that are good enough. The old adage is true, you pick your best XI, if they happen to be the same in both of forms of cricket so be it...

I don't think only playing test at home will help. If we do that, how are we ever going to learn to adapt to different conditions? We just have to be patient and the ICC need to be fairer to us. Before India visited last summer, BD hadn't played a test in 13 months! We can't allow that to happen again.

We also need to extend the duration and quality of the NCL. If that means only playing in the top two or three venues in BD and introducing one or two overseas players, so be it. At the moment the BD season lasts about 3 months, whereas the English county season lasts closer to 6 months...

[Mahmood]

We did not play test cricket for 1 year, and we have now seen how huge the performence drop was beacuse of that. If he thinks a longer break will better our prformence, then all I say is he has lost all his cricket sense.

[DJ Sahastra]

It is a catch-22.

A break or self-imposed volunatry suspension is not gonna help.

Playing (and losing so frequently) is not helping either.

I think the answer lies with the BD players. A couple of good knocks (a century or a few fifties per match) and matches going into day-5 would do as a starter. This will buy some time for BD Management to get it's domestic framework going and also for it's A team to start learning from tours.

[Kana-Baba]

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
Bangladesh will get better once: -

1) We strengthen our domestic cricket: we need to play more FC and List-A matches, I'd say 15/15 form rather than the current 10/10 format, on a variety of sporting wickets. All 6 teams - each with its own A, U19 and U15 sides competing in respective tournaments - should have quality coaches focused on fundamental technique, and physios focused on all aspects of player fitness. Last but not least, BCB must do what is necessary to make NCL the premier domestic cricket competition in the country in terms of a) player compensation, b) media, especially TV coverage, and c) merchandizing.

2) We strengthen our A-team and keep it busy: we need to use the A-team - playing all year around against other A-teams and associate sides - to fill some of the discrepancy between the quality of our domestic cricket and the highest level. This can only prepare our players better for International cricket.

3) Pundits, selectors and overzealous fans take the more reasonable approach: we need to wait until #s 1 and 2 continue to evolve and our top players reach their late 20s. A transparent and reasonable selection process focused on a) talent in terms of the fundamentals, b) work ethic, and c) the demonstrable ability to learn quickly and apply in the middle, MUST replace the traditionally arbitrary selection and player development criteria. I propose we make the Coach our Chief Selector with his own team of scouts. They'll do better than guys who never really learned the fundamentals themselves. Sorry for sounding so harsh, but we cannot expect slashers and glorified parhar pileyarj who could never play through the line well enough to truly appreciate and value footwork and compact technique. No more jodi laigga jay ...

I expect Bangladesh under Coach Siddons to ease the typical anxieties over the next 2 years, make us a competitive side over the next 5, and a side to be reckoned with in 10 years Inshallah. A Zimbabwe-style, voluntary suspension of our test status is not a good option for us in light of better alternatives mentioned here.

Broken record.

I would like to add one more option in this list.

4) Challenger Trophy: Each year BCB should arrange a tournament much like challenger trophy in India. Make three teams (Red, Green and Yellow) comprising top 36 players of the country. These three teams will be involved in three ODI, three twenty20 and 3 unofficial test matches. All these matches should be broadcasted in local TV and hefty amount of prize money should be included to make this tournament a lucrative option for the top players to perform. With little publicity and minimum effort from BCB (since it involves only three teams and single venue, organizing it would be very easy), this can become a very competitive tournament and can help our top players much required exposure in relatively high standard competitive cricket.

[lamisa]

Originally Posted by Dhrubo
i believe we should'nt stop playing tests,because the more we play the more experience we get,you will never get better if you dont have a practice of a particular thing and it is true practice does make perfect and bd doesnt get much practice,we need to play like 10 to 15 tests a years to perfect up,just stopping play wont solve our problems,playing will slowly slove it up,a team cant just jump up so quickly you know.

i agree wid u 100%

[RazabQ]

Sheesh, some fans seem to need diapers. We've gotten overly inflated expectations after a few limited over and 20/20 wins.

Guys we had a huge break in test cricket! Four our development challenged team a 1 year break is too much. Plus coincidentally, three of our most consistent, veteran performers went off-colour during this period (Bashar, Rafique and Pilot). So obviously we _had_ to bring in some of the younger players. People like Ash, Aftab, Masree might be young chronologically but they _are_ veterans in terms of Test experience. So don't just go by age. Finally - it hasn't been that dismal. We drew the 1st test with India (even though weather helped we held our own in most of the sessions). We dismissed NZ in both first innings on the 2nd day when the pitches are the best for batting. We are starting to put together a few record partnerships. We have a new coach for whom grit alone is not sufficient. One who demands grit + match-winning-talent. So now is NOT the time to grow despondent. Now is the time to tell critics, thanks but we'll stay the course and talk to us in 5 years.

BTW I agree with what Sohel and Kana Baba had to say on this matter.

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Sohel NR
Bangladesh will get better once: -

1) We strengthen our domestic cricket: we need to play more FC and List-A matches, I'd say 15/15 form rather than the current 10/10 format, on a variety of sporting wickets. All 6 teams - each with its own A, U19 and U15 sides competing in respective tournaments - should have quality coaches focused on fundamental technique, and physios focused on all aspects of player fitness. Last but not least, BCB must do what is necessary to make NCL the premier domestic cricket competition in the country in terms of a) player compensation, b) media, especially TV coverage, and c) merchandizing.

2) We strengthen our A-team and keep it busy: we need to use the A-team - playing all year around against other A-teams and associate sides - to fill some of the discrepancy between the quality of our domestic cricket and the highest level. This can only prepare our players better for International cricket.

3) Pundits, selectors and overzealous fans take the more reasonable approach: we need to wait until #s 1 and 2 continue to evolve and our top players reach their late 20s. A transparent and reasonable selection process focused on a) talent in terms of the fundamentals, b) work ethic, and c) the demonstrable ability to learn quickly and apply in the middle, MUST replace the traditionally arbitrary selection and player development criteria. I propose we make the Coach our Chief Selector with his own team of scouts. They'll do better than guys who never really learned the fundamentals themselves. Sorry for sounding so harsh, but we cannot expect slashers and glorified parhar pileyarj who could never play through the line well enough to truly appreciate and value footwork and compact technique. No more jodi laigga jay ...

I expect Bangladesh under Coach Siddons to ease the typical anxieties over the next 2 years, make us a competitive side over the next 5, and a side to be reckoned with in 10 years Inshallah. A Zimbabwe-style, voluntary suspension of our test status is not a good option for us in light of better alternatives mentioned here.

Broken record.

1000000000 % correct. only God could have said it better Himself (woops this type of phrase is holding us back )

[al Furqaan]

i think Sohel hit the mark. i really don't think we can hope for much in the next year or so (though i hope i'm wrong). how many players averaged 35 even at an age of 22 or 23. yet all our batsmen are that young.

SN - 25
tamim - 18
aftab - 23
ash - 24
sakib - 20
rajin - 25
mushy - 18
farhad - 21
junaid - 19

what is average? i'll have to calculate it. even the few 18 year olds who started averaging ridiculuos figures (SRT, BCL) had a lot of support from older top order bats. our guys don't have that.

it is high time we start improving at home though. only then can we move on to counter the bouncy, seaming tracks.

Sohel bhai is of the belief that batsmen peak at 27-32...only on this point will i a disagree. i hope that is not the case for us. but it may very well be.

i think batsmen begin to peak 24, maybe 25 to 30 or 32 and then go downhill. SRT is a legend as he is going strong at 34. so far of our players only ash and SN and rajin are in the 24-25 range. i think ash is beginning to peak, but pressure of captaincy (which he is handling fairly well) and lack of a supporting cast is slowing him down. i hope SN gets some big knocks against SA at home. i am counting on it.

please NO bashar.

[akabir77]

And England will win a world cup if they stop playing ODIs.

[Dhakablues]

Bottom line: BCB needs to really do something here before someone else does it for us. If we are to do well in tests, we need to play more longer version matches on different type of wickets and reward those who do well in those matches. Screw this bogus "Talent"," Give him time, he will get bettter", " he is our future Golden egg" thing. Lets play real basic Aussie style cricket where performers are only rewarded. Period.

[RazabQ]

Originally Posted by akabir77
And England will win a world cup if they stop playing ODIs.

Priceless ... I mean you should email this to Cricinfo