Cricketer journeyman

AMINUL ISLAM BULBUL

Bangladesh's first Test centurion Aminul Islam Bulbul today leads a life that resembles a modern day journeyman. You might catch a glimpse of him in China, discussing the finer details of the game's development and then by the end of the week he would have travelled thousands of miles away to Kuwait to organise an educational programme as a cricket development officer of Asian Cricket Council. And by the time his first 'work-cycle' gets over and he returns to his base Malaysia a new project is always on the cards.
And it therefore is no surprise that Aminul, who is now in Dhaka on a short break, wants to make the most of his vacation.
“I worked continuously for a while this time so that I could take a longer break and come here. But even then I still have to handle a few responsibilities that I have from here,” Aminul said with a smile.
“As a cricket development officer, I work on designing the game's development in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, China, Kuwait, and also help my team to design their development system,” explains Aminul, a technically sound batsman.
“The good news for us this time is that off the six qualifiers in the T20 World Cup four are from Asia, so that's a good sign,” he added.
One of the more interesting aspects of his job, which began in 2007, is to popularise the sport in these countries. It's something that Aminul does on a slightly biased note.
“You can't watch cricket on TV in many of these countries, and they have to depend on videos. For instance in China, the videos I showed in school were that of Bangladesh defeating Australia and some of their other wins,” he chuckled.
Despite being so occupied, Aminul almost always finds a way to keep in touch with Bangladesh cricket.
“I have a Chinese dongle (internet) with me which I carry around, through which I watch most of the cricket matches,” he said.
An avid follower of the current national team, Aminul is especially impressed by the likes of Mominul Haque, Shohag Gazi and Nasir Hossain.
“There are a number of match-winners in the side and that's good. This current Bangladesh team is not established as yet but it's moving in the right direction. I think we need to give this team another five years,” he added.
The former Bangladesh captain is on the verge of extending his contract with the ACC in the coming days. Despite the busy schedule he wants to dedicate his free time by working for Bangladesh cricket. “I have never been offered a job officially. But I'll have free times and I would love to contribute in any way I can for the national team,” said the dapper right-hand batsman of 90s.