'For your country it has to come from within'

Bangladesh's debacle in the West Indies can be attributed to a number of reasons. The lack of longer version games, dead wickets in the first-class circuit and the low morale created due to the series of defeats this year are just a few.

However, according to Bangladesh bowling coach Heath Streak, it's the lack of 'physical preparation' that tends to hurt players the most. While a poor first-class system does contribute to that aspect, the former Zimbabwe all-rounder reckons that it also comes down to individual training.  

“It all comes down to being a real professional. Your training; your diet; your rehab; improving your physical conditions when you're off cricket; the guys who perform are the ones who have ticked all these boxes,” Streak told The Daily Star in an exclusive interview at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon yesterday. 

“For example, Mushfiqur [Rahim] is a real professional. He trains hard, he is in the gym and goes the extra yards. It's not a surprise that he has been Bangladesh's best performer. But we need more people feeding off that work ethic. That's how we are going to improve.

“As coach we need to go and try to encourage them. But when you are playing for your country it has got to come from within. I can always coach someone to be better, but if he does not want to be better, if he does not have the right attitude…the first thing is that it needs to come from him. That's a key ingredient,” the Zimbabwean explained.

Streak believes that the advent of T20 leagues around the world and commercialisation of cricket should be incentives for Bangladesh's cricketers to perform and challenge their limits.

“If I were playing now I think there would be a bigger incentive to bowl well because the world is full of opportunities and what better arena can these guys have to showcase themselves to try and get an IPL contract.

“Shakib [Al Hasan], everyone wants him because he has performed well internationally. So he is getting the rewards for the effort he has put in. If you are just comfortable making the national team but don't have aspirations to improve and get even better then that's where you are going to remain. 

“If you are happy to average 30 or have an economy rate of 6 then you will never improve. But if you are not, you will push yourselves. And again that comes back to how you train your lifestyle,” observed Streak. 

While the pacers fared well in the ODIs—Al-Amin Hossain with 10 wickets was the top wicket-taker and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza recorded his best bowling figures (3-39) since 2010—they disappointed in the Tests. Streak believes that the roots of Test failures lie in the country's domestic structure.

“In a Test, most seamers are expected to bowl between 40 to 50 overs. But our players are not accustomed to that since they don't bowl that often in domestic cricket.

“We need to have good wickets if not seam-friendly ones in domestic cricket. These are some of the challenges that I think everyone knows but we need to address them for the longer version,” said Streak.

He also lamented not being able to use Mashrafe and Taskin Ahmed in the longer version.

“If you had taken Mashrafe it gives you an experienced and consistent performer. Taskin has got raw pace. He would be a really good starting bowler. I suppose it's going with a knife to a gun fight,” he concluded.