5 interview questions for the Head Coach

[Zunaid]

Assume all candidates meet the basic Terms of Reference to be the Head Coach of Bangladesh.

If you were only allowed to ask 5 questions and would base a hiring or a rehiring decision based on the answers to your questions, what would those 5 questions be?

Please post your 5 questions and also do explain why you are asking the question and how would the answer impact your hiring decision. What are you expecting to learn from the answers?

[beshideshi]

What are your plans to make the transition from domestic to international an easier one for the players?

We often hear how our domestic structure is below par, and how our players have to learn some intermediate/basic stuff at international level. This can cost the team a few games, if this transition can be made smoother, it would be better for the team.

How do you intend to win games? By working on our bowling, or by working on our batting or bowling?

Some teams depend on their bowlers to win games[Pakistan,South Africa] and some depend on the batsmen[India]. I would like to know how the coach thinks the games can be won
Who do you think are the 'firepowers' of the current Bangladeshi team, and how do you intend to use them?

By firepowers I meant match winners, and I would like to know how other players will play around them. Imrul Kayes is a prime
example of how to play around a masterclass. It's his ability to bat around Tamim that has given us some decent starts in the past year. If the bowlers can bowl around Shakib, it would work out well in my opinion.

What is your target from world cup 2015?

This question is to see what is the long/medium term goal. If we are aiming for the cup next time, we should plan to win the cup. If we want to play semis, we need to arrange the team/build the team like that.

Do you intend to do a bit more scouting, or just trust the selectors with the choices?

Jamie kept saying that this is our best 15, so did Whatmore with his team. I think if the head coaches went to some more first class games, they could pick up some more talents and help them nurture. Trevor Chappel picked up Kapali from a dpl game, even when Kapali scored 30s and 40s.

[Zunaid]

beshideshi - can you explain why you are asking those 5 questions?

[layperson]

1) Why are you interested in the job?
2) What do you bring in that the other candidates dont? Basically what makes you different than the other candidates?
3) If you are chosen as the head coach what are your plans for the BD team in the next 5 years and where do you see them in the world ranking?
4)The head coach position requires technical knowledge, good communication skill, Good PR skills and diplomacy. Can you use some of your previous experience to showcase you possess all these skills?
5)Finally, the BCB is government run organization which has a lot of politics in it. DO you think you have the required merits to make the orgnaization listen and implement your ideas?

[zman]

A) What are your long term goals for this team?

B) What are your long term goals?

C) How do you plan on achieving these goals?

D) Why do you want to take this job?

E) What can you offer to Bangladesh cricket that other coaches cannot?

Just noticed layperson beat me to it and has some of the same questions...what can i say...great minds think alike!

[Baundule]

My questions are formulated from recent experiences. They would do, at least for me, to select a good coach. The criteria is, he should be able to avoid the relatively easy traps in the questions.

1. How do you want to build the team? Replacing all 24+ players by young guns and sticking to the same team for next 10 years, or maintaining a healthy competition to perform among players inside and outside the team?

2. Do you think captaincy for a single person is too much difficult a job? A captaincy group would do better?

3. Where does Bangladesh cricket stand at the moment? Can we expect to win against G8 teams regularly, or they are too strong, because of their ranking?

4. Please explain your thoughts on team performance and individual improvement? Are you a true believer of Lt. gen Hussein Muhammad Ershad's theory that "68 hazar gram bachlei bangladesh bachbe, nije bachle 68 hajar gram bachce" or you think a team is not only a collection of players but also a composition?

5. How good are you at statistics? Are you good enough to skew the stats of our team performance so that a win weighs more than 5 defeats? ARe you good enough to show that the increase in average of a single player by 1.33 is your contribution, eclipsing the other 19 players in the team and their averages?

[RazabQ]

Gonna have to do some shameless self quoting: http://www.banglacricket.com/alochon...&postcount=120

With that as a context, my questions are:
1) Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being "okay" and 10 being "a specialty and foundation of success" on the following aspects of coaching
- Technical know-how of batting
- Technical know-how of spin bowling
- Technical know-how of pace bowling
- Technical know-how of fielding
- Teaching
- Man-management
- Communications/PR
- Tactics and strategy
- Planning
- Decision-making

2) There are only 9-10 slots possible to be the head-coach of a Test-playing country. Other than that, why would you want to move to Bangladesh and deal with a challenging work-environment?

3) What is your plan to break Bangladesh from the vicious self-fulfilling prophecy of "they are young, they don't have the infrastructure, and their domestic leagues are weak and so they cannot win consistently"

4) What are your philosophies on how Tests, ODIs and T20s should be approached? We get that yes one has to bowl/bat/field well in all formats to be successful, but do you inherently believe that you would have different or the same approach to player selection, coaching and tactics for all 3 formats?

5) How do you "get away" to alleviate stress? Being the head-coach can carry a lot of stress, especially so for a developing nation such as Bangladesh. How do you typically cope with stress or unwind? Listen to music? Play with your children? Have a pint? Hang out with friends? Read?

[zman]

Originally Posted by zman
A) What are your long term goals for this team?

B) What are your short term goals?

C) How do you plan on achieving these goals?

D) Why do you want to take this job?

E) What can you offer to Bangladesh cricket that other coaches cannot?

A, B, C --> What I’m looking for here is a strong, organized, process oriented approach. I want the coach first to have a good idea of the goals he wants to set for the team. I want to know the details of his plan, the milestones he'll be setting to track the progress, and the means to achieving these milestones in particular. Once I’m convinced he has a solid “Plan”, I want to judge his ability to communicate his “Vision” to an unknown person.

D, E --> I want to understand the motivating factors—money, resume building, challenge, or Real Interest in the welfare of Bangladesh cricket in addition to these factors.

Instead of providing him with the details, I’ve kept these questions open ended so I can judge how well he’s done his homework and his level of understanding of our domestic infrastructure, sports politics, etc. and how he plans on mitigating challenges associated them.

It also gives him the opportunity to showcase his unique abilities that other coaches might not possess.

[Zunaid]

I wonder if I could encourage coaches Ian and Julien to join the game? Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge. Say no more.


What would you ask? Ok, I am pushing a bit - and how would you answer those questions?

[RazabQ]

Just wondering how many of BC's mostly younger patrons got that Monty Python reference ...

[shuziburo]

1. Why do you want to coach Bangladesh?
2. What are your ideal and realistic goals for 2015?
3. What are the weaknesses and strengths of the current team? How do you want to boost the strength and address the weaknesses?
4. How do you want to address our middle and lower-middle order batting woes?
5. How do you see yourself building this team into a world-beater?

The reasons for asking the questions are self-evident, I hope.

[reyme]

I just have one question for soon to ex head coach of Srilanka:

Mr. Dyson, when can you start for Bangladesh?

[Raynman]

1. Shakib or Mash for Captain?
2. Who was more successful, Siddons or Whatmore?
3. Abahoni or Mohammodan?
4. Ash-kicker or Ash-kisser?
5. Go for win or shommanjonok porajoy?

[Habib 420]

Q1: if the team performs bad, who will you blame: Coach (yourself), Team/Sqaud or Individuals in the team and why?

Q2: What qualities do you have as a coach to maintain and develop a team professionally in a short and limited time.

Q3: Communication between coach and player is important, how will you deal with someone who does not understand (English).

Q4: If players are not performing well, what will you do and why?

Q5: If your captain is out of form for a long time, what action will you take?

[Fazal]

1. If the team loses repeatedly over time under your leadership, what will be your top three/five excuses?

2. If players make same mistakes repeatedly how you will address that? If players refuse to follow your game plan repeatedly, how you will address that?

3. When selecting a team, do you think a player should be assigned roles to fill team's need and accommodate game plan even when that particular role may not be his best strength? Or, do you think the game plan need to be adjusted so that the best 11 can play and their strengths are utilized in the game plan?

4. If our batting fails repeatedly in a series, how you would address that in short term? Add another batsman in the team compromising bowling strength or replacing a less performing batsman with another batsman and keep the blowing strength same? Or something else?

5. How comfortable to you feel giving new roles to a player before it’s tested and capability proved in local league? If you feel comfortable, please explain how you plan to minimize the risk of failure while playing for Test/ODI/T20. If you don’t endorse that, how you plan to prevent that happening even when it comes from BCB executives?

I asked these questions to get an idea, whether its worthwhile for me to stick with the team further with hope for improvement or just casually follow the team when I have time to spare.

[AsifTheManRahman]

1. Will we win the World Cup?
2. When will we win the World Cup?
3. Why do you think we will win the World Cup?
4. How do you think we will win the World Cup?
5. Do you like haleem?

First things first. Answering the first question in the negative will lead to an immediate disqualification.

[Raynman]

i say we get a voodoo witch doctor

[One World]

What infrastructural changes you suggest for BCB to implement so you can go by your vision to achieve your long and short term goals during your tenure?

What are the main three components of your coaching strength that brought you success in the past in competitive cricket? How do you think you can use those with cultural and ethnic background of BD cricket structure which most probably completely different from your previous work environment?

If change is inevitable in the team, among staffs and even resource and supplies involved, what approach would you take to assess, forecast and get it done on time?

What is your technique to evaluate individual and team performance? (Both short term and long term)

Tell us your past success stories where your direction and leadership had significant contribution in team's progress.

[Zeeshan]

1. Do you like cricket?
2. Why do you or you don't like cricket?
3. Do you like test cricket, ODi cricket or t20 cricket more?
4. Who is your favorite cricketer?
5. What is your favorite cricket channel?

[mrngoricke]

Hi,

Thanks very much for this comment. It help me to think about my ideals.

Tks again and pls keep posting.

[Ace of BD]

1) can you prepare a team that will bring the 2015 world cup home?
2) can you prepare a team that will bring the 2015 world cup home?
3) can you prepare a team that will bring the 2015 world cup home?
4) can you prepare a team that will bring the 2015 world cup home?
5) can you prepare a team that will bring the 2015 world cup home?

[Ace of BD]

enuff said, if afghans can almost make it to world cup by playing in deserts, than plz dont gimme the **** our domestic cricket cant produce this and that players,,,,ITS ALL IN THE MIND, if u dont wanna win the world cup, u never will....u can sing songs of being no.9 out of 9 test teams....cut that BS
the coach day and night, every single second must make the players mentality to die for a WORLD CUP, nothing else...if any coach is ready to transform our players into hungry tigers dying for feasting on that delicious world cup, then so be it! Even if we havent the name of that coach before...every SINGLE SERIES should be a step towards the ultimate goal of 2015 world cup...

[Jadukor]

Originally Posted by Ace of BD
enuff said, if afghans can almost make it to world cup by playing in deserts, than plz dont gimme the **** our domestic cricket cant produce this and that players,,,,ITS ALL IN THE MIND, ...

its settled then!... lets get professor Xavier!

[Ian Pont]

1. Can you cope with the media misquoting you, making up a story to fill a space or speculate about something unimportant like the toss of a coin

2. How will you manage the fans' expectation that Bangladesh are on the verge of being the best team of all time and winning every trophy they compete for, rather than realising progress is slow and painful

3. How likely is it you can get any player to accept responsibility for their own actions

4. Is there any chance of having you bring together everyone who has their own agenda, to instead have the same common goal of seeing the national team a massive success

5. Are you prepared to be blocked at every turn when you try to bring in something that will help with player development

.... ok tongue in cheek but you get my drift

[Ace of BD]

Originally Posted by Ian Pont
1. Can you cope with the media misquoting you, making up a story to fill a space or speculate about something unimportant like the toss of a coin

2. How will you manage the fans' expectation that Bangladesh are on the verge of being the best team of all time and winning every trophy they compete for, rather than realising progress is slow and painful

3. How likely is it you can get any player to accept responsibility for their own actions

4. Is there any chance of having you bring together everyone who has their own agenda, to instead have the same common goal of seeing the national team a massive success

5. Are you prepared to be blocked at every turn when you try to bring in something that will help with player development

.... ok tongue in cheek but you get my drift

Dear Sir Pont,
How would you answer my five questions posted above? Would appreciate any response from you, even if it be just a couple of words...Thanks for your time...your hanging around in BC is vindicative of your love towards us, and because of that, we love u even more. Thanks once again!