CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has asked Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to provide more coaches to the nascent cricket nation to help them improve their overall standard.

"We have requested the PCB to give us some more coaches in near future so that we can improve our overall standard," BCB Director Ashraful Huq Ghazi said.

Bangladesh were awarded Test status last year and have been soliciting help from other countries in order to raise their standard.

"We share a very good and cordial bond with the PCB and whatever we have requested they have given us in the past and on this tour all the PCB officials have assured me of their continued support," Huq said.

Pakistan's former captain Javed Miandad served as batting coach for Bangladesh Test team, 'A' team and Under age cricketers last month. "It was a short coaching stint and we would definitely invite Miandad for a period of two months whenever he has time."

"After Miandad's great contribution we have requested the PCB to send left arm spinner Iqbal Qasim and leg-spinner Abdul Qadir," he said.

West Indian fast bower Andy Roberts is in Bangladesh to help groom fast bowlers. "We have also asked the Indian Board to send Erapalli Prasanna and Bishen Bedi who were two great spinners and would help us a great deal through their knowledge," he said.

"Besides all this four coaches from Sri Lanka will also come to Bangladesh to train the under age cricketers because Sri Lanka has the best set up of Under-14, Under-16 and Under-19," Huq said.

"Bangladesh too has some very quality players in Under-17 team and we reached the final of the Asian Under-17 earlier this year after beating Sri Lanka," he said.

The BCB director revealed that Bangladesh has strategic contract with the Australian Cricket Board. "The ACB sends their coaches to Bangladesh every year and our senior team coach Trevor Chappell has come under that contract while we would also send our young players to Australian academy every year."

Huq said cricket has overtaken football as number one sport in Bangladesh. "Football is no longer the number one sport in Bangladesh, its cricket which has left football way behind and if you go in any town you will see kids playing cricket in Lungis," he said.

The BCB director hoped that Pakistan and India will feature in a tri- series in Bangladesh in January next year. "We hope that India will come and participate alongside Pakistan in the tri-series which we want to host after two Tests against Pakistan next year," he said. "India has applied for Government clearance and we hope that they would get it."

© Dawn