“Bangladesh has not progressed in 25 years: US coach.
In the 1999 ODI World Cup, Bangladesh stunned the entire world by defeating the mighty Pakistan. It has been 25 years since that sweet memory.
Stuart Law, the head coach of the United States, sees no progress in Bangladesh cricket over these 25 years. He expressed this in an interview with Al Jazeera.
Law was the head coach of Bangladesh for a short time in 2011-12. Under his guidance, Bangladesh played in the Asia Cup final (2012) for the first time. He was also the head coach of the Bangladesh youth team in the last ICC Under-19 World Cup.
However, the BCB did not renew his contract after the World Cup. Afterwards, he was appointed as the head coach by the United States. Recently, they made history by defeating Bangladesh 2-1 in a series.
With the T20 World Cup in sight, Law comments on Bangladesh, ‘In 25 years, Bangladesh has not progressed. Whatever they are doing, it’s not working. They need to figure out how to make their mark.’
Criticizing the current board, Law says, ‘Maybe it’s time to sit down and think, “What we’re doing isn’t working, we haven’t progressed – maybe we need to do something different.” I’m not saying this to belittle the current administrators, but they need to keep an eye on all aspects of the game.’
Cricket has changed a lot in the last 25 years. It’s now the era of T20 cricket. But Bangladesh has not yet been able to sync with this format. They have not been able to play in the knockout stages of any World Cup. Law does not have much expectation for Bangladesh in this format, even after evaluating the emerging cricketers.
He says, ‘They (young cricketers) are not strong athletes, but their bodies are of a soft nature. So they can bowl fast and spin. We all know that. But they can never be strong athletes like West Indians or Australians, who have a different upbringing and diet.’
‘If Bangladesh can bring up young players aged 12-16, give them a good diet and a solid foundation in physical fitness – if they can get through this phase of growth, then the world will see a Bangladesh that is beyond reach.
With a population of 170 million, there is a lot of talent in Bangladesh, and it is a cricket-crazy country. Forgetting about social background and upbringing, we just need to find them. If they have talent, then start utilizing that talent.’
