Chairman of the cricket operations and vice-president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Najmul Abedeen Fahim, on Friday raised concerns over the cricket facilities in the country after admitting that they had not been able to provide the best to the players.
Fahim also admitted that the wickets of the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, often dubbed 鈥榯he home of cricket鈥� in Bangladesh, have not been satisfactory. He also hinted a change might come to the position of the curator of the venue.
The veteran coach-turned-administrator was talking to the reporters in Chattogram, where a T20 warm-up game between the High Performance Team and Bangladesh Tigers was taking place.
He admitted that the current HP camp in Chattogram was affected due to the non-functional indoor facility, which remains under renovation.
鈥業t鈥檚 very unfortunate. The indoor is our only option when it rains, but it wasn鈥檛 available. That disrupted the training. This camp could have been more effective,鈥� Fahim said when his attention was drawn to the fact that the cricketers were unable to practice for most of the time.
鈥業t鈥檚 very important for us to come and observe what facilities are available and where the shortcomings are. Only by getting direct information can we address these issues going forward. This way, the next time a camp is held here, perhaps the problems that exist now will no longer be there,鈥� he added.
Fahim also explained that the camp, which used to be based in Dhaka, was shifted for the quality of the wickets.
He said, 鈥楾he wickets in Dhaka are not good enough. That鈥檚 why we moved out to Chattogram. But even here, we couldn鈥檛 provide the kind of facilities they need. We must find more grounds. [We have to] revive Fatullah and make Bogura and Khulna fully operational. The biggest problem we鈥檙e facing now is wickets.鈥�
鈥榃e鈥檙e still not satisfied in that area. That鈥檚 where we will now focus heavily,鈥� he continued.
He also talked about the wickets in Mirpur, which once again came under scrutiny during the recently concluded T20I series against Pakistan.
He said that there were no instructions from the board to make it slow or low.
鈥楾here was an attempt to make it sporting, but they couldn鈥檛 do it,鈥� Fahim said. 鈥楩rom the board鈥檚 side, there was never an instruction to make it slow and low. But the pitch hasn鈥檛 lived up to expectations. The soil might be the issue. We may have to remove the entire soil base or change the preparation process. We all accept that the wicket is not satisfactory.鈥�
Fahim also echoed BCB president Aminul Islam鈥檚 concerns about the visibility issues caused by the black soil in Mirpur.
鈥榃ithout grass, the white ball absorbs the soil鈥檚 colour and becomes darker. That naturally affects visibility. We must address this,鈥� Fahim explained.
On the possibility of appointing a new curator to replace Gamini De Silva at Mirpur, he hinted, 鈥楳aybe very soon we鈥檒l hear something on that.鈥�
Fahim also hoped that they could increase the number of venues in the Bangladesh Premier League gradually.
鈥楾his year, if we can add just one more ground to the existing three, it鈥檒l be a step forward. Eventually, we want to implement a home-and-away model,鈥� he said.
