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| Sunday, 25 September 2005 |
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Domestic structure at home must be revamped to get better results - Manager Col. Latif Khan By Srian Obeyesekere When minnows Bangladesh brought world champions Australia down to earth with an emphatic win, chasing a 240-plus total in a triangular series match in England last June, it seemed to signal the advent of a nation struggling to come to grips with the game of cricket. But alas, it was not to be. Bangladesh had only flattered and faltered as it was later to be seen. Dav Whatmore's whipping boys had whipped Australia, but could not hold their own as they stumbled out of the tournament, but not before giving the Australians another scare by scoring 250 for eight wickets which Australia overcame by six wickets. Since, the little brother in the sub-continent to big brothers Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan who hover tall, has taken some beating going down to Sri Lanka in the first two of three Test matches this side of five days. A grim reminder that the road is yet long and arduous for the Bangladeshis before they put behind that whipping boy image with which until such time starry-eyed captain Habibul Bashar's team must live with. A reality to which their Australian born Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore was mindful of when he acknowledged that it is a long journey ahead in response to the Sunday Observer in an off the heat moment when he brought his charges to the dinner felicitation by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board last Sunday at the Galle Face Hotel ballroom. Of course, the point was a mite elaborated by Manager Col. Latif Khan when he told the Sunday Observer that back home Bangladesh was alive to the realities of what had to be done to go that extra mile. "We need to revamp our domestic structure with which only more temperament can be inculcated in so much as fine-tuning our talent to come to terms with the rigours of both Test and one-day cricket. For a start, we are looking at extending the domestic club playing structure from three to four days, while at school level it is more or less a limited-over format which we intend extending from one-dayers to two-days." Indeed, Bangladesh is agog to seeing the day its cricketers would match the big names in the game shoulder to shoulder. Manager Khan, a retired military colonel, says that the re-structuring entails a long process. For instance the country unlike Sri Lanka had as many as 64 club cricket districts which further multiplied at school level. "Therefore, it required much hard work," he said. Khan said that Bangladesh did not receive any support from India in so much as further development. But Pakistan was helping in some way. Such former greats like Wasim Akram, Javed Miandad and Waqar Younis did come from time to time with a sympathetic view to giving a helping hand in coaching young talent. But it was not on a broadbased scale. As to the current team, the manager said that Mohammed Ashraful, their match winner against Australia with a thumping century, was certainly the cornerstone in the fold. "But the problem is Ashraful needs to further master the finer points of batsmanship such as temperament where his country needs him to stay at the wicket," said Khan. For Ashraful and Bangladesh it might take more whippings at the hands of the super countries like Australia, England. But certainly Bangladesh has made a point. Their win over Australia, brief as the euphoria was, did show a dent in the world champions armour which England went on to collar. |
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