Siddons urges patience

Reflecting on Bangladesh's nine-wicket loss to New Zealand, coach Jamie Siddons pointed out the lack of patience in his middle-order batsmen.
A remarkable turnaround was expected on the third day after a brilliant comeback on the previous evening via new Test openers Tamim Iqbal and Zunaed Siddiqui, who shared a 148-run unbeaten stand. But after they were dismissed early yesterday, the Tigers' middle-order collapsed and were bowled out for 254 runs.
“Our middle-order needs to understand that Test cricket is all about patience. They can't hit the ball in the air too often and there are tough periods,” Siddons was quoted as saying in TigerCricket.Com website during the post-match press briefing at the University Oval in Dunedin.
“We survive six overs without scoring but we are not happy to (do so) for the seventh. We have to get through the tough periods. There's going to be a lot of tough periods,” he added when asked about the trouble with the middle-order.
Siddons, in his first assignment with the Tigers, emphasised that batting inconsistency is still their biggest problem.
“I have not been with these guys long enough and I have been told that inconsistency is in their cricket and they play too many shots when it is not necessary in Tests and ODIs. Ashraful looks the best player out there but he is getting out and not scoring the runs he is used to getting,” said Siddons.
He was annoyed with the early finish and said: “They have got to find it within themselves. There were two days left in this Test and they didn't need to go hard and just needed to wear them down.”
But Siddons had praise for his openers Tamim and Zunaed, both of whom were playing their first Test match. Tamim struck two half-centuries and Zunaed, who missed out in the first innings, eased to 74 before falling to Chris Martin.
“Tamim has been consistent all the way through this tour with his strokes. The New Zealand bowlers worked him out a little bit in the first innings but he was better in the second. I think he has definitely got a future,” said Siddons.
While of Zunaed he said, “He is a really solid person and a solid player and he'll get better and better. He has got one area he needs to work on and he has addressed it pretty well in the second innings. It is very encouraging that a couple of openers come out of the blue and do that sort of a job. I think we can put those two aside now and worry about the next four,” said the Australian coach.
After Daniel Vettori called the boundaries on one side of the ground as a 'farce', Siddons said, “The balls got to the boundary pretty quick when both teams were batting. A couple of top edges and cuts went flying over the boundary. I won't go as far as calling it a farce but I think they need to look at that far side and need to improve on that corner pocket.”