Bouncer awaits Siddons
The Tigers' dismal show in Australia has served as a wake-up call to Bangladesh's cricket authorities as they are all set to probe the coaching staff, along with the players.
In particular the activities of coach Jamie Siddons, who has taken the helm of the Tigers in November last year, will be brought under the microscope. The board will not only examine his role as the head coach but also ask to explain his comments on captaincy during the tour.
"First, we have to verify what he actually said. But the fact remains that a coach should not talk publicly like that, because he can only give a recommendation to the board. It is totally indecent and my opinion is that his comments increased pressure on the captain," said Gazi Ashraf Hossain, chairman of Bangladesh Cricket Board's cricket operations committee.
He also hinted that the board would challenge Siddons's stance on Bangladesh cricket as the Australian has time and again said that it is the 'infrastructure' which should be blamed for the poor showing.
And the 43-year-old former assistant coach of Australia believes that there is hardly any standard left for him to follow.
"I think we had some good wins to feel proud of, and we were definitely at a certain level.
"The problem was that we haven't had dependable batsmen in the top-order and that was the reason we appointed a man who has good knowledge in batting as the head coach. But unfortunately the batting standard has gone down," observed Ashraf while reflecting on the Tigers' pathetic batting display in the last eight months under the tutelage of Siddons.
"It was expected that the performance graph would improve but it didn't happen, so we can't accept it. I think it's about time the board should reassess the whole situation and take a tough decision even if my role is questioned," he added.
Ashraf believes that there is lots of scope to improve the infrastructure and practice facilities but one cannot take it as an excuse behind the recent poor performance.
"The BCB is trying its level best to improve and undoubtedly we have ensured expensive facilities for our national cricketers.
"One can't improve everything overnight and I must agree we have to improve our domestic structure. But one cannot make that as an excuse for the national team's disastrous showing," he explained.
There has been a lot of talk about the players' irresponsibility behind the miserable performance because ultimately the player has to perform in the middle but the former national skipper was not ready to spare the others.
"Even as cricket operations chairman I have to take responsibility so the head coach and his supporting staff, in other words, the whole team management cannot keep themselves away from being accountable," said Ashraf.
"The board is spending a lot of money and there are huge investment, why?" he asked.
"So that they pay us back with good performances. I don't think there is any need to spend so much money for anybody for this kind of performance," he said.
Ashraf admitted that they are in a dilemma with the captaincy.
"We have appointed Ashraful as captain till December this year with an idea that it would be helpful for him to keep the confidence but the time has come to review his position. He is even struggling with his own position in the team," said Ashraf.
"But we hardly have any choice to replace him ahead of the next home series against New Zealand but still we have to think about the issue seriously.
"We do have a lack of matured players in the team," said the former national captain.
Return of some senior players like Habibul Bashar has been talked about but Ashraf said that they have to think twice before taking any decision about the seniors.
"You must think why someone was dropped from the squad before taking any decision. His fitness level and absence of international cricket must also be taken into count," explained Ashraf.
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