The eating of one's words is not so displeasurable for the taste as much as the mere fact one has to. This is certainly the case for some cricket pundits who have witnessed Bangladesh in test cricket of late. The fact they have not conjured a test victory should not detract from disciplined spin bowling and, at times, very entertaining batting. The cricket writers who have declared Bangladesh unworthy of test status should be thoroughly embarrassed at India being bowled out in under a day and England being forced in the field for scores of overs. This achieved by a mix of exuberant youth, committed coach and a passion for the game not dissimilar to that seen in India.
Cricket needs more world-wide appeal to remain current and ensure a future - certainly where test cricket is concerned. It has not been the luxury of upper class exclusively for some time now but it appears the ICC may beg to differ somewhat. Their dealing with the issue of the umpire decision review system is a case in point. Installing the UDRS has been made the responsibility of individual cricket nations and their boards. Inequity can be evident in various circles of life; sport being one, and Bangladesh are seemingly hapless bystanders of their own disadvantage which cost them 3 wickets against England in the first innings of the second test. While there may not be on-field bias against Bangladesh they can ill-afford the ICC ignoring infrastructure needs which help to provide a level playing-field. The people of Bangladesh will undoubtedly be buouyed by their team's performances of late; and their passion for the game will remain. But, ICC, give them a bloody break and help them get the UDRS for their test matches. If you feel they are a test nation then starting treating them like one!
Showing posts with label Bangladesh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bangladesh. Show all posts
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
many levels to a playing field
I heard on my drive in to work this morning that Afghanistan have been very competitive in the ICC World cricket league and aiming to get up into the qualifiers of the next world cup!
What a turn out that would be! A country in a state of turmoil, conflict and constant combat, making in roads into such a large world sporting event.
I've had a good read of the involvement and structure of these ICC competitions and i must admit it looks like they (ICC) are doing their best to really develop this second and third tier of the game.
One thought i had was, why doesn't the bottom (2) teams of the top competition spend more time playing the next level down? It is blatantly clear that Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are having their spirits crushed playing at this level, so why is there clear delineation between them and the next level down?
Surely teams such as the Netherlands (top of Div 2 table), Canada, Scotland and Ireland would get a lot out of playing Zimbabwe and Bangladesh more regularly, as well as these two teams getting a much needed moral boasts from a few wins! I'm sure we would see less of a gulf between the top of Div 2 and the bottom of Div 1 than we currently see between the more competitive test nations and Bangladesh and Zimbabwe!
It is good to see that they are playing each other at the moment (instead of boasting Sri Lankas stocks again...and again!) and i hope more of this continues. At least one team will accumulate some points from the encounter.
www.pepsiiccworldcricketleague.com/
stoph verismo
downthewicket
What a turn out that would be! A country in a state of turmoil, conflict and constant combat, making in roads into such a large world sporting event.
I've had a good read of the involvement and structure of these ICC competitions and i must admit it looks like they (ICC) are doing their best to really develop this second and third tier of the game.
One thought i had was, why doesn't the bottom (2) teams of the top competition spend more time playing the next level down? It is blatantly clear that Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are having their spirits crushed playing at this level, so why is there clear delineation between them and the next level down?
Surely teams such as the Netherlands (top of Div 2 table), Canada, Scotland and Ireland would get a lot out of playing Zimbabwe and Bangladesh more regularly, as well as these two teams getting a much needed moral boasts from a few wins! I'm sure we would see less of a gulf between the top of Div 2 and the bottom of Div 1 than we currently see between the more competitive test nations and Bangladesh and Zimbabwe!
It is good to see that they are playing each other at the moment (instead of boasting Sri Lankas stocks again...and again!) and i hope more of this continues. At least one team will accumulate some points from the encounter.
www.pepsiiccworldcricketleague.com/
stoph verismo
downthewicket
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Does the ICC like Bangas (or mash)
"How do you solve a problem like Bangladesh?"
sung to the tune of "How do you solve a problem like Maria" from The sound of music.
What can the ICC do to get some genuine competition from Bangladesh. A test nation since 2000, the scorecard for this country of over 150 million people is rather bleak!
It is rather easy for people to cry out and say that Bangladesh should have their test status denied through lack of results- probably many were the same that said Sri Lanka shouldn't have got their status in 1981... look how competitive they have become! So with that thought in mind, why are people so quick to right off a Bangladeshi test side becoming successful?
Given the desperately impoverished state of the majority of the population, surly the onus for serious cricket development goes back to the ICC? The Global Cricket Academy is a good start as long as it offers world class training without world class costs incurred to people attending.
http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com/development/global-cricket-academy.html
Then there is the ICC development plan and High Performance Program ( http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com/development/development.html ) both honourable objectives with long term outcomes. But the problem for Bangladesh is the lack of results NOW!
In the tradition of Sri Lanka, they have got an ex-first class cricketer from Australia as coach [Jamie Siddons] but for a team with only one win in forty seven tests, something more needs to be done.
It is great that the ICC has a swag of countries interested in more serious membership (104 Member countries including 10 Full, 34 Associate and 60 Affiliate Members), but let's not forget those that are holding up the bottom end of the test ladder, instead of just mashing more sides into the fray. If real dedication to advancement was applied by the ICC for Bangladesh, 150 million people would serve as a bloody deep pool of player talent!
sung to the tune of "How do you solve a problem like Maria" from The sound of music.
What can the ICC do to get some genuine competition from Bangladesh. A test nation since 2000, the scorecard for this country of over 150 million people is rather bleak!
It is rather easy for people to cry out and say that Bangladesh should have their test status denied through lack of results- probably many were the same that said Sri Lanka shouldn't have got their status in 1981... look how competitive they have become! So with that thought in mind, why are people so quick to right off a Bangladeshi test side becoming successful?
Given the desperately impoverished state of the majority of the population, surly the onus for serious cricket development goes back to the ICC? The Global Cricket Academy is a good start as long as it offers world class training without world class costs incurred to people attending.
http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com/development/global-cricket-academy.html
Then there is the ICC development plan and High Performance Program ( http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com/development/development.html ) both honourable objectives with long term outcomes. But the problem for Bangladesh is the lack of results NOW!
In the tradition of Sri Lanka, they have got an ex-first class cricketer from Australia as coach [Jamie Siddons] but for a team with only one win in forty seven tests, something more needs to be done.
It is great that the ICC has a swag of countries interested in more serious membership (104 Member countries including 10 Full, 34 Associate and 60 Affiliate Members), but let's not forget those that are holding up the bottom end of the test ladder, instead of just mashing more sides into the fray. If real dedication to advancement was applied by the ICC for Bangladesh, 150 million people would serve as a bloody deep pool of player talent!
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