My Suggestion to Dave Whatmore

[fwullah]

The following is my suggestion to Dave Whatmore. If you have any more suggestions, you can add up by replying to this thread. For the moment, I am not choosing any player - that is, I am not going into selection row thinking that this is the best possible eleven that we have (Javed, Hannan, Sumon, Ashraful, Rokon, Kapali, Pilot, Tapash, Monju, Anwar Munir/Sanwar).

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Suggestion No. 1:- Alok Kapali is our best batsman, not Habibul Bashar, not Khaled Mashud, not Mohammad Ashraful and definitely not Al Shahriar. So lets keep him that way, that is, forbid him to bowl his leg spinners even during net practice and tell him to concentrate on his batting, batting and batting.

Suggestion No. 2:- Get a good Interpreter and talk to Mohammad Ashraful - SERIOUSLY. Otherwise, all we have is a teenage version of Al Shahriar in Mohammad Ashraful.

Suggestion No. 3:- Since Sanwar Hossain has not been able to score runs so far at the International level, be assured that he will not be able to score runs in the future either, and he is not a 20 year old young lad. So utilize him as a specialist off spinner only and let him bat as lower down as Khaled Mahmud - i.e., not before Pilot.

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If any of you have any more suggestions, then post your suggestions.

[Nascer]

I have few suggestions to make:

01. Dav needs to get to the cricketers in all level of BD cricket and try make different lists of who has potential. And likewise put them in different practice level for year round practice under different coaches and monitor (by Dav) their improvement regularly. And bring the exceptional ones under his direct coaching.

02. Dav needs to look at other openers in BD, and try to work with the ones those are willing to learn and improve their technique. Golla and Sarkar is not dependable and time for look for their replacements.

03. Shanu is already over 33 and he doesn't have anymore potential. BCB has invested lot of time, money and energy in Rokon. And he failed everyone miserably. If Rokon ad Shanu can't prove their worth in Australia, they need to be dropped forever.

04. As far Ashraful goes, he needs to grow up. It's not funny anymore. Why would we need an interpreter for Ashraful? If he doesn't understand English, He should go to school and learn it. Next time he refused to take run and gets run out, he should be fined and made to run for days around the stadium.

05. Sujon is unfit as a cricketer these days, he seemed to have forgotten his basics. Just because he speaks English doesn't mean he can be the captain automatically.

06. Sumon is growing impatient everyday. What's his hurry? If he doesn't want to play cricket he can retire anytime he wants.

07. At the last resort, Dav should take over school cricket for next 3/4 years and in the meantime BD should stop play Test cricket altogether until we find some cricketers who know the basics of the game.

I don't want to criticize Pilot, he tried to stay on. Besides playing with tail-enders is always very difficult. Sujon needed to stay with him, but Sujon thought other wise. Let me phrase what Sujon was thinking when he went for big one (despite no more batsman to come and required rate was about 2 runs per over): "pitayia tokta chutaiya dibo". I don't see any other reason for him being so irresponsible.

[Nascer]

I have no critcism for the bowlers, They did a good job. Congratulations for their fine performance!

Congratulation to Dav too, he said before the tour we can't be judged by wins or losses. I think he played a vital role in almost taking us to a historic win. Keep up the good work Dav. I am sure he can see the weaknesses in the team clearer. A decent pair of openers and 1 more quality middle order batsman would make BD very competitive. I wonder who would Dav replace with the captain, a very tricky decision!

I will keep on posting new suggestions as they cross my mind. In the meantime, we need to put these suggestions to Dav.
Can anyone find a way to reach him?

[DOORBIN]

fwullah,

Yes Alok Kapali is our best batsman, as you mentioned (I agree partially), but he is also one of our best bowlers. Why should we be deprived of his bowling?

As a matter of fact, he is equally good in batting and bowling. He is a classic example of an all-rounder, at least in the Bangladeshi context.

[Edited on 29-6-2003 by DOORBIN]

[rafiq]

my only suggestion would be to have players work with good coaches when they are young so they can learn the right techniques and tactics to play the game.

It seems most of the guys on the team who struggle have really bad technique - getting in line, foot movement, timing,etc as well as tactics - shot selection, rotating strike, sometimes field placement and bowler rotation, etc.

Although bad habits can be unlearned with proper instruction and practise, it is hard if you have been doing it the wrong way for a long time. The mental side of the game goes down as well, because you begin to believe you really aren't that good and won't get that much better.

I learn a lot froom the 11 & 12 year old boys whom I coach in soccer. In fact, I think they are going through the same struggle that the BD team is going through in cricket. They have great potential, but picked up really poor fundamentals and technique when they first started playing at age 6 or 7. Why? Because they didn't have proper instruction and no one taught them the right way to play. So now, the trainers at our soccer club have to work with them so they can unlearn 6 years of bad stuff and then learn to do things right - "look up when you dribble", "pass into open space", "control the ball with one touch", etc. These kids get beter all the time, but they will never be as good as the kids who learned it the right way to begin with.

Somehow i think that may be true for BD cricket as well.

[amit]

Author:fwullah
Suggestion No. 1:- Alok Kapali is our best batsman, not Habibul Bashar, not Khaled Mashud, not Mohammad Ashraful and definitely not Al Shahriar. So lets keep him that way, that is, forbid him to bowl his leg spinners even during net practice and tell him to concentrate on his batting, batting and batting.

Kapali is an all-rounder and also our best batsmen. He should be asked to bowl in the nets. He has the capabililities in him to become our best all-rounder. His capabilities with the ball should not be sacrificed to make hima better batsmen. Both need to be developed. No, doubt, he should work on his batting as well.

[Zobair]

I would have agreed with you fwullah if Kapali was a frontline paceman. Now that would have been too much to ask of him- be a pacer (which requires a tremendous amount of energy) and be the best batsman of the team (which is no mean feat on its own). However, legspin (which is more about guile than raw power) only adds an extra dimension to his game. Him taking wickets with his spin, can only boost his confidence with the bat. He looks like a guy who can and should handle the pressure. He is one of the very few serious contenders for an allrounder position and we shouldnot deny him that.

[Sham]

should do exactly what he does now. Bats at 5 and bowl leg spin. Firstly, I think he is more than capable of doing both and doing both well. And even more importantly, right now, since we are having to carry Sujon in the side, it is imperative that we get Kapali to bowl almost as one of the specialist bowlers. Otherwise we are doomed.

[fab]

Look, Dav has only been on the scene for what, 3 whole weeks? Surely you cannot expect him to make wonders so soon.

Anyhow, I disagree with your article that the Bangladesh team needs new blood. Bangladesh already has a lot of new blood (eg compare the average age of the BD team with say the AU team). Give them time, and along with experience and maturity they will play better.

Patience is a virtue.

[fwullah]

I agree with fab on Dave issue (Welcome to the board fab) that its been only 3 weeks and we are asking too much from him in a very short time.

[businessman]

I also agree with fab.

Bangladesh team is full of new players. Basically it is a team with young players. These players need to play their best. It is not any good trying a player only for a few games and putting him on the sideline to try another player.

If that is the way, no one will win. My calculation.

[Edited on 1-7-2003 by businessman]

[Nascer]

I don't think anyone here questions Dav's capabilities. Under Mohsin Kamal BD might not be in the situation against Queensland Academy, it could be completely one sided affair. But concerns remain about the players in question. This is not the first time that they let BD down, it has become their trademark habit. True, we should give players more chance to prove themelves, but if there is no improvement in sight, I think those players in question will have to go sooner or later. Poor technique will not take them anywhere.
As a fan we should speak up and make suggestions even though that may not be the best of all.
And we don't want wholesale change in the side, change them one by one.

[nasifkhan]

i agree with Fab..... Dave should be given sometime.......

Also this guy Sanwar should be kicked out of the team....

he is the only player who have been given many chances.....he never capitilized any of them.............he has been always a very good performer in the local leagues and also in the last Kenya tour... but he never performed in the international level.......




[Edited on 1-7-2003 by nasifkhan]

[fab]

thanks for the welcome!

I had the opportunity to speak to some of the deshi cricketers. I think if anything needs improvement it is their morale and
confidence. I think this loosing streak is
not doing them good at all. They should
play less matches and work in improving their play at home.

Perhaps we as fans, put too much pressure on them?

[Pundit]

"Perhaps we as fans, put too much pressure on them?"

Yes, I couldn't have agreed with you any more. Most of us here are what really -
"desktop fans?"

Besides sharing the passion for the game, the only other common thing between us is that only a few of us have had any serious level exposure to the game in any form or manner ! I would be surprised if many of us have even represented their school team at any stage (Grade X or below).

In that light, some of the critique is really unfounded ? Unfortunately, the level of ineptness with which BD cricket has been run over the past 3 years is so deep, that even we end up being the better pundits of the game from time to time. That is no reason though to get carried away.

But what the heck, as I have been told before, this is a discussion board, and free speech reign supreme..or atleast to some extent !!

[Tehsin]

Fabz ... welcome to the board. How did you it ? Faru put you upto it ?

We would LOVE to hear from our players. I was about to write back to faru (and I will finish it after this) that - Fans from this site would die to be in your place right now. You get to meet our players and I do understand that they feel demaralized by the recent defeat but you know what - we have full faith in Dav and have guarded faith in our players.

Me personally, let me repeat myself - I WILL not count ANY of ur matches in the next sixth months against him. There is much work to be done and hejust took over the job.

I will give the guys a break (except for Sujon, Golla, Sanwar, Rokon and Sumon - the senior members) on this tour - because we are playing the Aussies. WE are bouncing back from a horrible world cup and as Pundit bhai pointed out - 3 years of inept governance of our cricket by the board. Heck we don't have a solid first class championship and whatever we had has been turned into a farce - Jakey boley Lok dekhano.

Our board is so inept (it seems like they have woken up after the world up and hope it sustains) that thy even lost to the AFGAN cricket association in trying to get us a place in the Ranji Trophy in India. Yes, there will be an Afgan team playing alongside the top Indian teams but we will still not be able to utilize such an opportunity.

Anyways, good to see you here. Give KAPALI our best wishes and good luck to the rest of the team. We are going to hit Bret Lee and his gang out of the park (sorry James).

[fab]

hey tehsin

no, I came to this board on my own accord In fact
Rashid bhai mentioned your website. I never knew
it existed! Anyhow, I replied to the email you sent.

go Bangladesh!

[amit]

Fab, even i agree with u. Some of us are expecting too much too soon from Whatmore. What everyone needs to know that Whatmore is a human and not a god or machine. Give him some time. It could even be 3 months or so and after that BD will begin to improve.

Also, BD is new to test-cricket and it will obviously take it atleast 5 or more years for BD to win a test match.

About the players, Kapali is our best batsmen and also our best all-rounder. He is the only player in the current team who can be a world-class all-rounder and both his skills need to be developed.

Fwullah - Having new blood in the team is going to take BD nowhere and will weaken the team further. The team should be a mix of experience like Golla, Pilot, Opee, Sujon, Rafiq and so and youth like Ash, Hannan, Rokon, Kapali and so. What is really needed is proper guidance. These players have never recieved it and now with Whatmore, hopefully this is possible. I think that Whatmore will bring out 100% from each and every player.

Tehsin - Hit Brett Lee out of the park ??? ur team is not India and there are no sachins in ur team. At best, BD can score 200 against aus. Expecting anything more is optimistic. However, Ind will beat Aus 4-0

[Nascer]

It's nice to see we are becoming optimistic again. Win and loss are part of the game. It seems like everything is not lost. We have seen some good individual performances in last practie match, and, hope we will see few more in this match. I will be very glad if that quartet of culprits (golla, Sanwar, Rokon and Sujon) who let us down so miserably, could bounce back and give us some good performances. That will make us all very proud!

[Pundit]

Golla, Sanwar, Rokon


Just watch and see Sujon whack Brett Lee out of the park in an ODI. Will serve that blonde brat just right - a place back in his suit selling business.

Just kiddin'