Since childhood, I have been a die-hard fan of cricket. When I used to see Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh, or Wasim Akram play, I wondered when Bangladeshi players would play cricket in the international level, and the matches would be broadcast on the TV channels. In 1997, the Bangladesh team qualified for the cricket World Cup and grabbed One Day International (ODI) status, and eventually got Test status in 2000. But, their performance graph still fluctuates greatly.
Since 2000, the Bangladesh cricket team has been playing in many international matches. Yet, their performance is very amateur-like. Our players are now a joke to the elite teams. Often, legendary players raise their voices to withdraw our Test status, saying the Bangladesh cricket team lowers the value of the “Test playing nations.”
I am not a cricket specialist. But, as a cricket aficionado, I have observed that we don’t have a long-term plan regarding our cricket. We don’t focus on the future, rather we stick to the present and engage in criticising the players. Criticism is necessary, but only criticism cannot bring any good results. When a player fails to perform well, the selection board gets rid of him and replaces him with someone else. This may be a temporary solution, but not a long-term one. We should shift from temporary solutions to steady long-term strategies.
So, what is the long-term solution? Let me explain it with an example from football. When the German football team was ruled out from the group stages in Euro 2000, they reformed their entire football structure. They focused on age-group teams like under 10, under 12, and so on. In addition, they established football academies in the school level. They engaged both governmental and private institutions in this reformation.
Indeed, they did not get an instant result, but they planned for the future. As a result, now we see a strong German football team who demolished a superpower like Brazil in a 7-1 defeat in 2014. Moreover, they have a good number of substitute players in the pipeline. So, they have a strong 23-member squad, ready to handle injuries and other crises.
Like this scenario, we should reform our overall cricket structure. We have to set our goals for the 2019 or 2023 World Cup to win the championship. We should focus on a specific age-group as part of our long-term plan. Young people below the age of 14 should be our target group. The young generation is crazy about cricket, which adds fuel to our plan.
We should establish strong cricket academies equipped with proper facilities. In doing so, PPP (public-private partnership) is useful. Moreover, these cricket academies should appoint qualified coaching staff. They can also appoint physicians, nutritionists, computer analysts, and motivation gurus who will help the promising players to improve their performance. If possible, foreign coaching staff should be appointed periodically for special lessons.
Additionally, school authorities can play an important role in implementing this plan. By the same token, they should cooperate by making their playgrounds available to the academy. Furthermore, school-level cricket tournaments should be arranged regularly and vigorously.
Subsequently, cricket academies should be established in the district level. It might be difficult to establish academies in the village or union level, but at least every upazila should have a well-equipped cricket academy. In addition, regular competitions should be arranged in all the levels. We should keep in mind that without competition, talent cannot be found.
Tournaments, like four-day matches, ODIs, or T-20s should be arranged regularly in all the levels. By doing so, young sportsmen will be well familiar with every format of cricket. Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad, Union Parishad, businessmen, local political leaders, trustees, and teachers should help to arrange such events. Besides this, the National Cricket League, Premier Cricket League, and BPL (T-20) should be arranged on a regular basis.
Separate teams for Test, ODI, and T-20 matches should be formed after certain levels of assessment. It is very important because our players do not have enough temperament for Test matches or are incapable of power-hitting in the slog overs of ODI and T-20 matches. Similarly, all players are not equal. So, we should carefully assess their performance.
Money does matter indeed. We should revive BPL and take necessary steps to ensuring proper payment of local and foreign players. Big corporate houses should come forward and invest in these academies and tournaments.
A couple of days ago, someone told me: “Alas! We have only one internationally-qualified player – Shakib Al Hasan.” Also, Mashrafe, Mushfiq, Mominul, and Tamim have gained fame for their decent performance. But, they are not Supermen. It is impossible that Shakib can take five wickets and score 50 runs in every match, or for Mushfiq to hit a 50 in all the innings, or Tamim to come down the track and hit sixes on every ball. We need more capable players who can improve the team’s performance. Long-term plans can produce more skilled and competent players and reduce dependency on one or two players.
