The 'Daily Star' has reported a very significant news today on the 3rd of November after the second test match between Bangladesh and England finished and before the start of one day series. I quote, "It was learnt that there was a lot of pressure put on the curator of the MA Aziz Stadium wicket Nurul Abedin Nobel from influential quarters to make it as flat as possible which he thankfully ignored. 'I don't want Bangladesh cricket to go back ten years by preparing a pitch where the ball won't get above knee height. It's time to move forward. They might have lost here this time but playing on this pitch have given our batsmen valuable experience which is bound to make them better cricketers,' said the former Bangladesh opener."

Nurul Abedin Nobel is a former national opener as mentioned in the Daily Star report who has a very poor record in his international career. Everyone agrees to the fact that openers of the sub-continent usually struggle to find their feet at the international stage, particularly because of the batting-friendly pitches of the sub-continent.

His One Day International career is as follows: ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS (including 31/12/1990) M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St Batting & Fielding 4 4 0 15 13 3.75 27.27 0 0 0 0

But his career at the ICC trophy tournaments suggest that he was a very talented batsman: ICC TROPHY M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St Batting & Fielding 5 5 0 235 105 47.00 1 1 1 0

Andrew Miller writes on his player profile on WisdenCricinfo: Wisden overview Nurul Abedin opened the innings in Bangladesh?s first-ever official one-day international, against Pakistan at Moratuwa in 1985-86, but sadly his third-ball duck was not the prelude to a glorious ODI career. In four matches over the course of five years, he managed just 15 runs, at a strike rate of barely 1.5 an over. But as a big fish in a smaller pond, Nurul was quite a predator. In the ICC Trophy of 1990-91, he smacked a century against Canada and 85 against Denmark, as Bangladesh were eliminated at the semi-final stage by a strong Zimbabwean side. Andrew Miller

We need former cricketers like him who do not bow under pressure in trying to do the best thing for the future development of Bangladesh cricket.