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March 25, 2008
Posted on 03/25/2008 in Bangladesh cricket
"A lot was expected when the present set up of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) took over eight months ago with a promise of a better future for the country's number one sport," writes Bishwajit Roy in the Daily Star. Unfortunately, nothing has transpired till today in translating that dream into reality.
March 16, 2008
Posted on 03/16/2008 in Bangladesh cricket
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Collective hara-kiri was given a new meaning as each batsman to a man devised newer and more ingenious methods of gifting wickets to the South African bowlers
© AFP
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Bangladesh lost both Tests and all three ODIs against South Africa and the Dhaka-based Daily Star's Shakil Kasem is convinced the team is fast approaching the status of Clown Princes.
Although, the captain and the team management spared no pains in informing anybody and everybody within earshot or to those who cared to listen anyway, that even 230 runs on the board would just about suffice to put the fear of god into the side batting second. This assertion was somewhat tempered by the time the second and third ODI came around, to how comfortable we were likely to be in the driver's seat if we just batted all of the 50 overs we were entitled to. The fact that in the end we could achieve neither only reinforced the belief that we are still struggling to perfect the art of chewing gum and crossing the street at the same time. Collective hara-kiri was given a new meaning as each batsman to a man devised newer and more ingenious methods of gifting wickets to the South African bowlers. Here is a group of returning tourists who are now firmly convinced Christmas in this part of the world comes twice a year. Here was oriental hospitality gone haywire for sure.
In the same paper, Mohammad Isam remembers young Manjural Islam who died in a motor accident last year.
Just two days before his death, he wanted to take me and a few other teammates for a walk around the lake to calm us down after our fifth successive loss but later we decided to have tea outside the Dhanmondi ground.
"Never ever bow down" and "Cricket ends with the day. Tomorrow is a new beginning" were just some of the words I recall from that day. But most of us, CCS players, knew that he was one of those cricketers who hated to lose but he was also one who recovered from a loss very fast and moved on.
September 3, 2007
Posted on 09/03/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
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Nazimuddin is making a mark at the international level
© TigerCricket.com
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| Nazimuddin, the latest star to emerge from Bangladesh, says that the tough training at a Under-19 pre-World Cup training camp helped him immensely as a cricketer, in an interview on TigerCricket.com.
“One day we were taken for an ice-bath at 7 in the morning. It was winter and I had never experienced anything like standing inside a drum with ice up to the neck. I thought why don’t they kill me instead."
However, Nazimuddin's mother had a part to play in ensuring he didn't give up.
“After the ice-bath there was another 40-minute ordeal at the swimming pool. When I got back to the dorm I called my mother on the phone and just asked her ‘You want to see your son alive or you want a cricket player?’ and she could hear me weeping. She paused for a few seconds and then said in a steely voice, ‘a son who is a cricket player’. I was so pissed that I did not call home for the next four weeks. Looking back I guess if she had played the typical mom and told me to come back home then I would never have gone on to play international cricket.”
July 25, 2007
Posted on 07/25/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
Just how much does cricket affect one's life? In Bangladesh, with its crippled economy and flood-ravaged countryside, cricket is a distraction from people's troubled lives. But the team's recent performance - losing the Test and one-day series in Sri Lanka - has added to the country's gloom. Mohammad Isam writes in the Daily Star that cricket more often than not played the role of a healer of real life sufferings of Bangladeshis and a good performance in Sri Lanka would have fitted in nice amidst all this because it is a feel-good factor for them.
Cricket and the people of Bangladesh have had a brilliant relationship since the days of the ICC Trophy triumph in 1997. It hit the roof when they beat Pakistan in 1999 and it hit an all-time high this World Cup. Over the last 10 years, the country hasn't had much reason, except cricket, to cheer about.
July 3, 2007
Posted on 07/03/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
Richard McInnes is the favourite to land the job of a coach of Bangladesh. G.M Bashar, of Banglacricket,com, caught up with him.
I think the Bangladesh batsmen still need to master the art of building an innings, of getting to the other end when they are under pressure rather than swinging wildly, of batting as a pair better rather than two individuals, of staying positive even when defending or batting in tough conditions. This does not mean still scoring at a SR of 80+ but maintaining positive intent. I have watched several times when the Bangladeshi batsmen get in trouble they try and sit in the crease and hold the opposition out. It is really only a matter of time before they get out. You need to keep taking the game to the opposition but with calculated risks, not impetuous rushes of blood.
June 6, 2007
Posted on 06/06/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
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Habibul Bashar in happier times.
© AFP
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| A bitter Habibul Bashar reacts to his sacking as Bangladesh captain in an interview to The Daily Star
"No doubt it takes some time to normalise with the change in situation, especially when I had the expectation of continuing as the Test skipper. But what shocked me most was the way I was treated by the authorities. I expected a call from a board official about the decision. Do you think the expectation was too high for me?"
Bashar though did have words of praise for newly-appointed skipper Mohammad Ashraful.
“Ash (Ashraful) is a very good thinker. He is not only a natural talent but also thinks about the game. He follows the game minutely, which is not so common in his generation. Definitely I will give my best support to him but I hope everybody will have patience on him. He should be given enough time to establish himself as a skipper."
May 30, 2007
Posted on 05/30/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
Dav Whatmore has been Bangladesh's most successful coach and the The Daily Star terms his departure from the post as a peaceful one, unlike the "sorry and painful departures of Indian Mohinder Amarnath, West Indies great Gordon Greenidge, South African Eddie Barlow, Australian Trevor Chappell and Pakistani Mohsin Kamal." The Dhaka daily's Bishwajit Roy interviews Whatmore on plans, hopes and frustrations while coaching the Bangladesh side.
DSS: We have seen some talented cricketers fade away from the spotlight during your tenure like Alok Kapali, Al Shahriar, Tushar Imran. It's true that they have failed sometime but don't you think that you have not motivated them enough to comeback. It seemed that you just let them go.
DW: (laughs) I am not happy with anybody who has talent and doesn't make it. But I do take some responsibility. But you're being harsh as you're saying that it's my fault. I never take credit when players do well. Therefore if a player doesn't do well, I don't think its fair to say that the coach is at fault. I take responsibility but at the end of the day, the player should take some of the responsibilities. Alok is still rated highly and potentially extremely good. If you see him bat in the nets, you'd pick him first but unfortunately that didn't translate into runs. Even though he has so much ability, he must understand what batting is all about.
DSS: Do you think not finding a permanent opening combination is a big failure?
DW: Yeah, it is the same now. We have another boy (Shahriar Nafees) out of form as well. Opening hasn't been the best part of our batting line-up. It would have been nice to have a good opening pair as it is important to have a good start if you're batting first or second.
May 16, 2007
Posted on 05/16/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
Akram Khan was the the first Bangladesh captain to taste victory in ODIs. He is set to take on the role of a national selector soon. In this interview with BanglaCricket editor Khondaker Mirazur Rahman, he talks about his vision about Bangladesh Cricket, selection policy and domestic cricket.
May 9, 2007
Posted on 05/09/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
"After his retirement from International cricket, Khaled Mahmud briefly worked as the Manager of the Bangladesh National Cricket Team. Currently, he is working as the Team Operations Manager of the Bangladesh National Cricket Academy in a bid to groom young players for future Bangladesh teams. In his interview with BanglaCricket editor Khondaker Mirazur Rahman, he expressed his vision about the Bangladesh National Cricket Academy, Bangladesh cricket and India’s tour of Bangladesh."
April 22, 2007
Posted on 04/22/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
Dav Whatmore announced that he would end his tenure as coach of Bangladesh after the series against India. In an interview to the Times of India, Whatmore reflects on his legacy with Bangladesh over the last four years and what the future holds.
The family is behind me. At present, we need to balance a little bit with some personal contact with them all. But they understand that cricket is my life. They have been more than generous in allowing me to achieve so many things in my life.
March 3, 2007
Posted on 03/03/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
Nabila Ahmed, writing in The Age, Melbourne, profiles Shahriar Nafees, the son of a freedom fighter who defended Bangladesh in its bloody war of independence against in 1971.
Under the tutelage of softly spoken captain Bashar, Nafees is now being groomed to one day take over the leadership of his country. Bangladesh's cricketer of the year in 2006, the left-hander says marriage to law student Eshita has brought him luck. "After the wedding, I scored about 400 runs in seven or eight one-dayers."
February 8, 2007
Posted on 02/08/2007 in Bangladesh cricket
Bangladesh's Daily Star carries a report of a remarkable match in which players were chased by spectators and beaten up, the stumps were stolen and the riot police were summoned to restore order. Even then the umpires had to search to find the hiding fielders, one eventually being hauled out from under the covers.
Perhaps the most worrying thing was the casual note by the paper:-
In the last decade, such happenings are not rare as it is quite 'honourable' for clubs to threaten or physically beat up their opponents, own players or the umpires if the match did not go according to their wish.
The Bangladesh board has launched an investigation.
September 10, 2006
Posted on 09/10/2006 in Bangladesh cricket
Rabeed Imam takes a trip down to the home town of Mashrafee Bin Mortaza for the post-wedding reception of Bangladesh's most animated cricketer . Click here to read.
Riding the Honda CDI in his usual carefree fashion with Razzak in the back, Mortaza suddenly let go the steering and spread his hands on reaching the Chitra Bridge but still managed to balance the bike with ease. “He has fantastic control of a motorbike so I wasn’t worried,” Razzak tried to put up a brave face. One of Mortaza’s childhood pals inform that they used to jump from the bridge on to goods carrying barges as they passed.
It was 12pm and the last part of the Mortaza experience unfolded. Showing a narrow path that leads to the river from his house Mortaza said confidently, “I can do what ever I feel like here. This area belongs to me and my friends. We have been taking this path to the river since I was a kid. We used to race each other to see who hits the water first and sometimes we ran stark naked through this passage screaming and shouting before plunging into the river. Even now at times we turn back the clock to those days and a friend’s mother, who to her misfortune saw us one day, asked in exasperation if we would ever grow up,” grins Mortaza.
April 17, 2006
Posted on 04/17/2006 in Bangladesh cricket
In the wake clashes between the media and police at Chittagong, the Daily Star in Dhaka decided to boycott coverage of the event.
It was not possible for us to file reports while fellow journalists languished in hospital, victims of brutal police assault. To protest this unjust police torture the journalists immediately held a meeting and decided to boycott the Bangladesh-Australia series until the incident was fairly investigated and the guilty police officials were punished.
February 23, 2006
Posted on 02/23/2006 in Bangladesh cricket
"It's simply a great victory. With the superb win against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh hold a lot of things as far as Test matches are concerned. I don't understand why some people unnecessarily criticise the Tigers," writes Wasim Akram in The Daily Star.
Ponting, you just keep your mouth shut and look back to what they did against you people in Cardiff last year and take a note of the latest one against Sri Lanka. And I would suggest everybody: Don't think you are going to play a warm-up game when you take on Bangladesh.
January 1, 2006
Posted on 01/01/2006 in Bangladesh cricket
Eddie Barlow's death has deeply affected a number of Bangladesh's players, notably Habibul Bashar and Khaled Mahmud with whom Barlow forged close relations:
"Whatever I have achieved so far was because of that man. He gave me the mental support when my place in the national team was not even confirmed. I will always remember his words to the selectors that I have learnt afterwards 'Is Sumi in the list for the inaugural Test," said an emotion-chalked Bashar.
"Can you imagine a man seriously ill rushed to the ground only to see Bangladesh's practice match against Derbyshire. Honestly speaking, Bangladesh's cricket was in his heart," he said.
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