The case for Ian Pont as Bangladesh coach

Bangladeshi cricket fans expected a lot from Richard Pybus, but sadly the expectations turned out to be a frustrating story. Last week, Pybus declined to continue as the coach of the Bangladesh cricket team. This is certainly a big blow for the Tigers with the series against West Indies due to start November 13.

But it's time to move forward, time to recruit the perfect man for the job. Bangladesh still has to go with a foreign coach due to the lack of standards among our local coaches and that foreign coach should not only have the experience and professionalism but will also become a great friend of the Tigers and Bangladesh as a country.

Coaching a team from the subcontinent is not an easy job for foreign coaches. In the subcontinent there are cultural differences, various people with a diverse culture come and takes shelter under one flag to fight for the pride of their country. In Bangladesh this isn't any different, so whoever will be appointed as the Tigers' coach must have a good knowledge about our culture and must embrace it and accept us with a big smile.

If he is not willing to accept our culture then there will be lack of heart in his efforts. He will not understand what cricket is actually meant for the 16 billion people who live with the hope of the Tigers' sunny days in each match they represent and die with each failure of our boys. And for which we need someone who can mingle with our culture like a true friend rather than land in our country and start complaining about anything and everything.

In my mind, at present, Ian Pont is the right person to coach Bangladesh. In his previous stint as our bowling coach and then as the head coach of Dhaka Gladiators, who won the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League, Pont earned enough respect and above all, he has become one of our best friends. He's loved by all and he is at home with our culture and our cricket. He knows the whys and hows of our cricket and possesses an in-depth knowledge of our first class-cricket structure too. Moreover, Pont has the experience and professionalism to claim the coaching job of our cricket team without a second thought.

His coaching credentials have spanned the world - Bangladesh bowling coach, Dhaka Gladiators' coach, Netherlands' bowling coach and assistant head coach, coach and consultant for the Haryana Ranji Trophy team, Essex and Northamptonshire bowling coach, head coach of the International Pro Camp in South Africa and ECB National Skills Set coach apart from coaching at three ICC World Cup campaigns.

As a cricketer, Pont was good enough if not amongst the best. He bears a very respectable first-class cricket career. During his playing days he represented teams like Nottinghamshire, Essex, Natal and minor counties such as Northumberland and Lincolnshire with success. Today he is regarded as a bowling coach but his knowledge of batting is as excellent as his bowling nous since he was a batting allrounder during his playing days. Pont is also the author of two books – “The Fast Bowler's Bible”and “Coaching Youth Cricket” (recommended reading by the ECB - and qualified as a UKCC ECB Level 3 Head Coach.)

In one word, Pont is a complete package as a cricket coach. And for Bangladesh, Pont is the best man for the job because he is one of our best friends and it's only a great friend can help to build a cohesive unit alongside his professionalism.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Note: This article has been published on cricket next.com today  The case for Ian Pont as Bangladesh coach

Save the fast bowlers

At present there’s a Dale Steyn, a Morne Morkel, a James Anderson or Steve Finn, but there isn’t any Wasim, Waqar or Ambrose. In the modern era those adventurous fast bowlers are missing. There isn’t any teasing, bouncing or bewildering the batsmen on a frequent basis. The modern day fast bowlers are more mechanic, more methodical. The all-guns-blazing characters are missing.

One of the major reasons of this drought of the adventurous fast bowlers have been the overdose of cricket being played throughout the year which scripts injuries to the fast bowlers and make them quite robotic in their approach. Jam packed international fixtures are quite good for the batsmen as one failure can be erased with another innings around the corner, but they put a heavy work load on the modern day fast men and traps them with the tendency to bowl smart enough – reduction of pace, shortened run up and not experimenting enough.  

Fast bowling is a physically demanding job. According to Jeff Lawson, “At the moment of impact on the popping crease up to twenty times the bowlers body weight is transferred through the leading foot, through ankle, shin, knee, hip and via lower back rotation up through the shoulder and eventually into the arm and wrist.” All the fast bowlers of proven class have managed to go through an hour of this complex mechanism let alone a Test match. Fast bowlers suffer the consequences of working at their limits of physical tolerance.

Fast bowlers are never 100% fit. There will always be a niggle which is needed to be forgotten totally and locked in the mental compartment until a day’s play is over. And when more work load is added upon these speed stars then the body fails to meet the demands – injuries follow. And to avoid such injuries a fast bowler is advised to bowl more on ‘the corridor,’ ‘the channel’ and ‘getting it on the  right areas’. There are no ambitious but stereotyped speed merchants at present. And the emergence of the Twenty20 has taken  a massive toll on the fast men as the rhetoric of fast bowling is accented to negate and nagging rather than beating or bewildering – prime target is to avoid the injuries.

The sufferer is cricket which has become more and more batsmen vs batsmen rather than batsmen vs bowler game. The lack of adventure amongst the modern day fast bowlers is killing the exciting part of cricket. The massive sixes of Chris Gayle are great to watch but the contest certainly reaches its peak when a raring fast bowler bewilders Gayle with his following delivery with fearsome pace and guile. But they don’t happen as the modern fast men don’t give enough effort or experiment only to avoid injuries.

But this one dimensional cricket must not continue and the contest must be a simmering one between the bat and ball. And to make the contest simmering preservation of the fast bowlers are very important. In South Africa and Australia some young fast men are cropping up. They have the mojo and the ingredients of the likes of Lillee, Imran, Akram and Ambrose, but they must not let their natural fast bowling abilities sacrifice to ‘bowling smart’ only to cope with this hectic international fixture of modern times.

Yes, to save the fast bowlers it’s very important to make a right balance in the international fixtures. I agree with Ian Chappell’s suggestion, “The administrators need to formulate a cooperative approach to devise a workable schedule, one that is acceptable to the players and that satisfies the financial needs of the game. Any discussion on a grand plan for cricket's future should include the option of playing only two forms of the game, or of retaining three versions but scheduling T20 cricket as a club-only franchise model.”

But will the administrators going to follow such suggestions? I am not sure. But to set-free cricket from the one dimensional joke this suggestion is instrumental. The injection of fast bowlers is needed to make the modern day cricket more adventurous. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Was Richard Pybus flawless?

So, the BCB finds themselves in the soup regarding the Tigers national coach Richard Pybus. Yesterday, Richard Pybus has confirmed his lack of interest in continuing as the national coach. According to him, the terms of the contract and the interference from the BCB made him to take such a drastic action. 

This sudden decision of the head coach is a blow for the BCB with the series against the West Indies knocking at the door. Both Pybus and BCB are giving their opinions to the media. In a sense the BCB did have flaws as they didn’t finalize the contract on papers, but was Pybus flawless? 

 What kind of professional coach Pybus was for the Tigers?

The BCB requested Pybus to stay 320 days in Bangladesh and with such a request the South African had problems. He cited about family reasons. One may have family reasons but a professional coach doesn’t give such excuses but focuses more on the responsibility he has been vested with. Neither Whatmore not Siddeons gave such excuses.

Richard Pybus only mingles with the team when a major tournament approaches. But a foreign professional coach doesn’t do that. Rather, they should know the respective country’s domestic cricket very well. And for this they need to stay for a fair amount time in that country. 

While being the coach of Bangladesh, Dav Whatmore used to follow the domestic cricket and so did Siddons and Stuart Law. They also had families but they did provide time for our cricket – the vested responsibility was their main focus. A professional coach gives more time not only to the national team but keeps an eagle eye on the first class cricket for the new bloods.

A good coach doesn’t complain but find better solutions

Richard Pybus issued various complaints about the food, the analysis system and so on. I still don’t get why the meat must be brought from abroad? Do foreign meats produce better cricketers or develops brain well? I guess not. Shakib Al Hasan didn't crop up eating foreign meats. Right? Luxury has to have limits. In my opinion, a professional coach tries to find a better solution of a problem rather than complaining too much.

A lesson for the BCB

Approaching a coach without a proper written contract will invite only unnecessary problems. The BCB should’ve been professional regarding this issue. But I guess the BCB will surely have learned its lesson from this and the new BCB boss was quick to admit: "From what I have heard, Pybus was one of the best coaches we have had so far. Maybe we were too happy about that. But without a written contract, we will face similar problems in the future. I am assuring you such things will not happen.”

Time to move on

A lot was expected from Pybus but sadly it didn't go according to our expectations. But it’s time to move on by learning lessons from this incident. For the Tigers a dynamic coach is needed. I hope the BCB do things right in the future.  

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Where is the aura of invincibility?

Since the late 70s to India's ascent to the No.1 spot in Test cricket, the world used to wait to see what excitement West Indies and Australia would dish out next rather than the match results. West Indies from the late 70s to mid 90s and Australia from the mid 90s to the better part of the last decade exhibited skills which gave the impression that these two teams had arrived from a different planet.

Both teams had some unique qualities which left the opposition hopeless and made them engage in silent prayers to save them from brutality. Their manner of display was so superb that opponents were made to look like school boys and after each match they used to put a psychological scar in their opponents' mind from which they hardly recovered.

Both West Indies and Australia triggered an aura of invincibility which used to script results before a ball being bowled. Their juggernaut rolled on powerfully and served as a good frame of reference for an assessment of collective and individual proficiency in sports. It's not only their extraordinary talented players but it had been the never-give-away-a-inch attitude which pictured their fearsome image.

Since the downfall of these two cricketing magnificos, the world seems to have lost that aura. Good teams are emerging every year and hitting the top spots in the ICC rankings, but in the course of time they burn out of fuel. 

India and England were full of promises but at present they are simply shadows of their past successes. Despite having all the ingredients to launch an aura of invincibility of their own, both India and England have stumbled dramatically.

South Africa has toppled England and reached the top of the Test rankings again. They also are very good in the limited-overs version. They have the batsmen, bowlers and fielders to be like West Indies and Australia. The optimists are hopeful of a South African era of domination but whether they will be able to do it or not remains a moot question. In the crunch moments the South Africans choke, a habit which was a rarity amongst West Indies and Australia. True champions always do the unthinkable when there is usually no hope at all, they never choke - they never gave away an inch.

For the time being, there isn't any invincible side around the cricketing world. There are promising contenders but in the long run they fade away pathetically. A battle between the two evenly matched sides does gift a competitive contest; but without a side, full of supermen, cricket loses its Herculean flavor - a flavor badly missed by the fans.

Note: This article was also published in cricket next.com  Where is the aura of invincibility?

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Bangladesh cricket - All the best Mustafa Kamal but don't become a joke!

So, the dream of Mustafa Kamal, the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, has come true. Finally, he has become the vice-president of the International Cricket Council. The ICC's executive board accepted his nomination, made jointly by the Bangladesh and Pakistan Cricket Board at the start of its meeting in Colombo on October 9, 2012. Kamal will now take over as the vice-president from 2012 to 2014 and then succeed Alan Isaac as president for 2014-15 over a 12-month period. This means that Kamal will have to immediately stand down as president of his home board, with the BCB's elections due sometime in late November, 2012.

The first ceremonial president

Mustafa Kamal’s dream was delayed by three months as it was debated whether the vice president post was relevant in the light of the restructuring. During the annual conference in June, the ICC injected some administrative changes which made the way for the creation of a ‘Chairman’ post, who will have the greater executive powers and head the board. According to Cricinfo, “The post of president will subsequently become a largely ceremonial one, with a one-year term, and the post of vice-president will be abolished. The ICC will appoint its first chairman at the end of Isaac's term in 2014, meaning Kamal would be its first ceremonial president.”

Expectations as a Bangladeshi cricket fan

 Now, what do I accept from Kamal? 

During his stay at the ICC’s big posts, Kamal must bring a new energy in Bangladesh’s Test fortune. To reach the top Test cricket is a must. Sadly, Bangladesh participates in lesser amount of Test cricket as most of the nation are reluctant to play against us and in such circumstances, Kamal must encourage the other Test playing nations to play against us - if not the bigger Test playing nations then the lower ranked Test playing nations must be offered to contest in a Test series against Bangladesh. After his return from Sri Lanka today, Kamal sounded confident regarding Bangladesh’s Test cricket, but I demand actions rather than words – a perfect implementation of words. 

Is he the right person for the job?

By the way, it’s a matter of pride for the Bangladeshis that someone from our country is featured in the ICC’s most coveted post. Kamal will have almost two years to perform his duties in the ICC’s executive sector and within these two years Kamal must work by thinking about the honour and respect of Bangladesh. As the president of our cricket board, Kamal’s actions have never been encouraging. He bears the reputation of being autocratic and bizarre. His ego clash with the selectors, madness with Shakib and Tamim, the unnecessary drama with the Pakistan tour etc. have never pictured him as a fine operator. So, his abilities to perform a challenging job at the ICC remains in doubt. 

Let’s be optimistic

But I wish to see the silver lining behind the dark clouds. Greater responsibilities always brings out the best in a person. Kamal’s job as a vice-president and later as a ceremonial president is indeed a big task and demands greater efforts of the highest quality. None of his bizarre and autocratic moves of the BCB will work but in turn they will tarnish the image of the country. Bangladesh as a cricketing nation is still struggling to earn respect globally. So in such circumstances, Kamal must be sensible enough with his every approach so that the image of Bangladesh remains supreme. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Dear parents, your children should not suffer because of you!

Children are born in this beautiful world not by their own wish, but it happens according to the wish of their parents. After marriage, the parents plan for adopting children, they proceed and the blessings of the God help them to create a family. So, if anyone becoming fathers and mothers has plenty of duties to fulfill.

The parents must take the responsibility of upbringing of their children in the most appropriate way. If you have become a parent then you must have the physical, mental and economical abilities of upbringing your children. The responsibility is yours, I repeat, it’s your responsibility to take the utmost care of your children. Letting a child grow up by the mercy of the God is nothing but the act of an idiot. You have brought your children in this world and won’t do anything to bring them up properly by citing various reasons is not worthy enough.

Before becoming a father or mother you both should’ve thought about your capabilities, whether you are able enough to raise your children. If you are not able and competent enough of upbringing a child then forget about marriage and let alone becoming  the ‘Muppet’ parents – the parents who live on the mercy of God and does nothing.

God helps them who helps themselves. The blessings of the God have given you, your children. But to bring the children in this world you had to act on the matter – the God automatically didn’t send your children. So, to raise your children you also have to perform the duties appropriately and the God will help you.

Every parent wishes the love and respect from their children. But in many families, the parents demand it in the most undemocratic way. They portray themselves as a dictator and demand respect. But in turn they tend to lose respect in the course of time. No one has ever been able to achieve love and respect from their children by being a dictator. For a certain period of time these things work, but not for long. I agree that to raise your children there is the need of rules and regulations. But by being an army General you can’t demand a constant respect throughout the whole life.

Again, it’s also not all about surfacing the child in this world and doing all the formalities and keep barking all the time to remind the children about your contributions throughout their life. I said earlier that the upbringing should be in a proper way – your children must not pay the price for your mistakes.

It’s the nature’s rule – whenever the parents make mistakes, automatically it affects the children in the most adverse way and make them suffer in the long run. The parents must be the role models for their children. They are not in this world to pay the heavy prices of your mistakes which you are habituated to make every day.

 Why will your children pay a heavy price of your mistakes? Why will they suffer for you? Why will they be deprived for your lack of financial support? Why will they suffer for your day to day madness and mistakes? Why will they be ignored by all for your stupidity?

If you have so many shortcomings then you people should not have gotten married, you people should not think of becoming parents. The children are not your slaves that they will digest whatever you will say and whatever the wrongs you will do.

You have brought them in this world and it’s you who have to take care of them.

Your children should not suffer because of you.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Impressive Raza Hasan needs nurturing

The land of Pakistan has produced some of the most exciting and natural cricketing talents. Since their introduction to Test cricket, they have continued to gift us such talents to amaze us enormously. Fresh, naïve and unrefined young guns use to surface in the international arena and from the word go they take the world by storm with their charisma. In terms of producing natural talents, Pakistan are way ahead of the other cricket playing nations.

In the ongoing World Twenty20 Super Eights clash against South Africa, Pakistani skipper Mohammad Hafeez boldly threw the new ball to a 20-year old left-arm spinner named Raza Hasan. He landed his first ball on a perfect length and beat Richard Levi. He was on course to grab a wicket in his first over had Kamran Akmal not let Hashim Amla off. In his second over, Hasan tested one of the finest batsmen and all-rounder of the modern era, Jacques Kallis, with his incisiveness.

In the next match against India Hasan was again on target as he removed Gautam Gambhir in the first over to give Pakistan hope of defending a small total. However, Virat Kohli proved too strong for Pakistan. Against Australia, Hasan proved instrumental with figures of 4-0-12-2 and grabbed his first Man-of-the-Match award in international cricket. The highlight of his spell was the scalp of Shane Watson.

Hasan has impressed with his attitude. At a young age he is smart enough to mix his deliveries and the control over line and length is highly appreciative. Discipline is the hallmark of his bowling - a quality which is a must to strike gold in limited-overs cricket. The artistic nature of spin bowling has still not developed in Hasan, but with enough experience and proper exposure to international cricket that art will develop. And above all, the kind of character and temperament he has shown on the big stage has been excellent.

Will he fade away like the other talents of Pakistan who once showed great promise? Pakistan might be the factory for producing exciting talents, but sadly many have gone wasted due to the whims of the cricket board and politics. The lack of ability to nurture and manage the promising talents have proved handy not only for Pakistan but also for cricket which would've enriched enough had those talents not got wasted.

Three years ago in the World Twenty20 a left-arm pace sensation named Mohammad Amir emerged. But sadly, he was infected by the prophets of the dark world. Another young prospect from Pakistan is on the rise in the international scene and he has the character and temperament to go a long way to carry on the legacy of left-arm spin bowling. He needs guidance, people who will put an arm around him. The PCB must ensure this so that Hasan does not go the Amir way. Cricket cannot afford to lose such talent due to the comical, lack of man management abilities and whimsical works of the PCB.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar

Note: The article has been published today at cricket next.com http://cricketnext.in.com/live/blogs/faisalcaesar/3379/63955/impressive-raza-hasan-needs-nurturing.html

It was not a super Sunday

Australia vs South Africa and India vs Pakistan. The battles suggest of something cracking and nerve-jangling. There will be high dramas on offer and the spectators will be left biting their nails with acute anxiety. And if the match schedules are on a Sunday then it’s ‘yummy’ without a second thought. These matches, as mentioned above, were scheduled on Sunday and it was the World T20’s Super Eights encounter. Gee! I was expecting a super Sunday. But at the end of the day the encounters were far far from being nerve wrecking and thrilling – they were heavily one sided.

The South Africans are worse than the minnows

In the ICC events, the Proteas choked again. After a receiving sudden shock from Pakistan the Proteas were being mauled mercilessly by the Australians. The Aussie bowlers strangle hold the Prpteas batsmen and then devastated their much celebrated pace attack with an exhibition of superb T20 batting. The Proteas were handed a heavy defeat by eight wickets.

With so many able customers in all the departments, surprisingly, the Proteas gifted the world one of the most frustrating shows ever. Their batsmen were sedated easily while the bowlers lost their tempo in crunch situations. Again, AB de Villiers as a captain was poor. A captain must lead from the front. In the limited-overs version AB is his team’s best batsman and rather than coming lower down the order he should’ve come earlier to face the music.

I must say, the Proteas are worse than the minnows in the ICC events. The minnows consist of one or two superstars amid of mediocre players and for which they cut a sorry figure. But despite having so many stars in all the departments, the Proteas continue to choke again, again, again and again – a matter of frustration for the followers indeed.

Superb Australia

As my fellow friend Aziz ul Qadir has stated that the Australians are taking this new format quite seriously and with their performance so far, they have proved it immensely. But the Australian middle-order, though steady, has not been tested yet. The Australians are riding on the muscular powers of Warner and Watson. But, with plenty of firepower in the batting lineup, it’s unlikely that they’ll be tested. I would like to give the Aussie bowlers more credit, especially the pacers. Despite having unhelpful conditions the pacers exhibited strict discipline and tempo to keep the opposition reeling. And again, their fielding has been spot on. Overall, the Australians are looking too good to get their hands on the trophy until and unless they discover themselves against an opposition to surprise them suddenly.

India vs Pakistan – So boring!

Like the world, Sunday is not a holiday in Bangladesh. I was returning home from the hospital. Usually it takes one and half hours to reach home from my hospital due to a chaotic traffic. But yesterday was different. I reached home within 20 minutes! Dhaka traffic was not chaotic in the peak hours! Was it a magic? Not at all. But it was the effect of the IndoPak clash. The heat of the competition was so immense that it had also gripped the people of Bangladesh.

With a cup of tea, chocolate cakes and biscuits, I started to watch the match with a serious look. My sister and father were laughing looking at my face. But that serious look began to disappear slowly as the match was heading towards a foregone conclusion – India again thrashed Pakistan in a World Cup match to keep the legacy intact. There wasn’t any competition at all.

Superb India

India recovered steadily from their last match defeat against Australia and came out all guns blazing against their arch rivals, Pakistan. The Pakistanis did give a promising start, but the men in blue stormed back to steal the momentum and gave Pakistan the killer punch from which they never recovered. Once Irfan Pathan had nailed Imran Nazir, Balaji continued his romance with Pakistan by unleashing a cheeky but effective spell to keep Pakistan at bay while Yuvraj Singh simply broke the backbone of the Pakistan batting by claiming two wickets in one over – the Pakistanis were booked for 128 and it was merely a cake walk for the Indian batting. Sehwag and Kohli sealed a much needed win for the Indians.

Frustrating Pakistan, frustrating Hafeez

After sealing a mind blowing win from no where against the Proteas in their previous match, the Pakistanis were the overwhelming favorites against India yesterday. But they surrendered towards pressure. The batsmen capitulated easily while on helpful conditions the bowlers were surprisingly unresponsive. I blame Hafeez’s captaincy. No matter what the total is, a captain must never stop attacking. I didn’t understand why Hafeez operated his bowlers without the slips. Pakistani bowlers are naturally attacking and when you offer them to deliver defensive stuffs then it’s obvious that they’ll lose their natural rhythm. Pakistan was boring and irritating and so was the same their captain. It’s better Hafeez learns from his mistakes.

The Dhoni critics must shut up

Ravi Shastri advised to keep Yuvraj Singh out of the final XI and thankfully none heard him. How critical he was yesterday. With his teasing off-spin, he literally jolted the Pakistani batting line up. It was good to see Sehwag back in the side and it indicates that MSD is learning from his mistakes. For the perfect occasion he made the right selections. Now, what will the harsh critics of Dhoni say? We, the subcontinental cricket followers are pathetic. We have a very fragile memory. We only support our heroes when they dish out victories, but in their lean patches we don’t stop slicing them brutally. Dhoni is an Indian hero. It’s not easy to lead a team like India. Failures and mistakes are a part of the captaincy. If a captain learns from his mistakes then it’s better and mind you Dhoni is learning from his mistakes. I would like to advise Dhoni’s critics to remain shut up and let the Indian maestro work according to his plans.

Lastly

Both Pakistan and South Africa made the Sunday boring. Yes, there has been a Watson juggernaut, a Balaji-Yuvraj-Sehwag-Kohli exquisite show; but to this cricket follower nothing is more delicious than a contest which put shivers down the spine, which makes the heart racing fast. Sadly, it was not a super Sunday.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar