Simon Helmot, the Head Coach of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) High Performance (HP) programme, said his ambition will be to develop young and experienced players so that there is more depth and a greater talent pool for the national side. The former Australia A coach joined the BCB on Friday and will operate the programme from July to September.
“We are about developing Bangladesh cricket so we can be a force in all formats,” Helmot said at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.“There are many competitions coming up like the Champions Trophy. In a few years time there is the World Cup and there are lots of series to be played. “But if we can develop the youth and even some of the experienced players so that we have better depth and a greater talent pool to pick in the national side, then we are going to be in a good place for not only now but for years to come and that is what excites me about being involve in this job.” The past HP programmes ran by BCB had produced assets to Bangladesh cricket like Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. Helmot, who coached Shakib in the Melbourne Renegades and pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman in Sunrisers Hyderabad in the recently concluded IPL, the chief ambition will be to produce players to meet the national team demand and not think of producing a player similar to the current leading cricketers. “I am hoping we can give players a whole lot of skill sets and experiences so that when they go out to play in the international level, they are ready. And this is what the HP program should do. Make sure there is development, give players ownership and responsibility and discipline. Their age doesn’t matter; people’s gifts and their ability can rise at different times. “So I do not know who the next players are coming up. I have experienced two Bangladeshi players at my time – Shakib in Melbourne Renegades and Mustafiz in IPL. Both of them are of different age. I am looking forward to work with all the group when the selectors and I sit to decided the players who will be fortunate to be part of the HP program,” said Helmot. Meanwhile BCB game development manager Nazmul Abedin Fahim informed that to make a difference between the current HP and previous ones, efforts will be made to accomplish things which had failed in the past. The list includes appointing a coach from aboard alongside the locals and also sending the HP squad to a foreign tour to test them in away conditions. “We couldn’t do few phases the last time, which included touring abroad and also could not get experts from abroad. But we will for sure make these things happen this time. In case of selection we will follow a different method as advised by the selectors,” he said. “The objective of the program will be different as we will concentrate on the need of the national team. Effort will be made to cut down the difference between skill of a national team player and that of an intermediate. The ambition will be to produce at least two to three cricketers for the national pipeline,” said Fahim.
