Bangladesh cricket team’s pace bowling coach Courtney Walsh said not enough chances given to the youngsters resulted in the slow development of pacers in the pipeline. The former West Indies spearhead, who completed two years with the Tigers as pace bowling coach last week, informed that the bowlers have the hunger to learn.
He said there is enough talent available and that there is the need to look into the matter of selection.
"It (my goal) is still a work in progress. A lot of youngsters are coming through. If they don't get selected to play, you won't know what they are. It is one of the things we have to look at a little bit more. We can't be too afraid to give the youngsters a chance to express themselves a bit more. If they are kept waiting in the wings, they will never get a chance to play," said former right-arm pacer Walsh to the media at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka Saturday.
"The more you play the best chance you will get to learn. You will get more experience by playing in the middle. Sometimes you have to throw these youngsters in the deep to see what they are made of. But if you keep protecting them and say they are not ready, they might never get ready. Sometimes you have to expose talent, you have to give them a chance," the Windies legend added.
Walsh said he is also upset by the fact that not enough longer-version cricket is played in the current cricket world. With increased bilateral series both at home and away, Bangladesh had expected to play more Test cricket, which actually, is not happening.
Snaps of Bangladesh team practice session today at SBNCS. pic.twitter.com/hjnZXxK1SJ
— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) September 6, 2018
"We haven't had a lot of Test matches, so to speak. But I think there has definitely been some progress. Unfortunately we only get chance to play four-day games when we are on tour. There are some good youngsters coming into the team. I am hoping that before my time is up, we can produce some fast bowlers. Unfortunately in the last tour of the West Indies, they didn't make as much of an impact as I would have liked. Hopefully the guys can give a good account of themselves in the next tournament. I am still hopeful," Walsh explained.
Speaking of veteran Bangladesh pacer and ODI captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Walsh said the right-arm Tigers paceman takes pride in his work, and this can be a good lesson for the young pacers in the team.
"We can do as much as coaches from the background. The youngsters will have to want to perform. Mash takes pride in his performance. It is the big difference. He wants to do well and compete, and that's what we need," said Walsh.
"Mash's experience and skillset (are) much different and much better than the other guys. Experience has been carrying him through but he was always a very good fast bowler. If he wasn't injured, he'd be playing Test cricket. The first time I saw him, I told him that he was good enough to play Test matches. Maybe because of his injury, he is not able to play all formats of the game. He is a high-class fast bowler for Bangladesh for a number of years. It is upto the youngsters now to have that hunger," the 55-year old added.
