HP on comeback trail

After a gap of eight years the Bangladesh Cricket Board is all set to launch the High Performance programme next month, albeit based on a slightly different mechanism compared to the last time.

The programme which operated from 2004 to 2007 found BCB the players who now hold the core of the national team. Although a number of attempts to revive the programme were made, they weren't successful.

BCB's new HP chief Mahbub Anam is sure that the newly-designed programme will drastically benefit the national team.

"It will be requirement-based HP programme unlike the previous term. Today we might be needing pace bowlers and tomorrow wicketkeepers. We will prioritise our needs and act accordingly and work for the demand of the national team," said Anam.

The BCB has initially selected 22 players -- nine batsmen, five wicketkeeping-batsmen, four spinners and four pace bowlers -- for the HP unit who will undergo various training sessions over four months. Apart from that, special camps may be organised for selected groups based on the need of the national team.

The 22 players will take part in a fitness test before moving to Bogra, where the members of the unit will play a total of six matches -- two T20s, two one-dayers and two two-dayers.

The matches, according to officials, will be held in order to judge the players' ability. It will give Paul Terry, the newly-appointed director of coaching, a better look at the players.

Various plans will be made following those matches and the players will be given their workloads accordingly.