Rain, poor planning dampen HP camp’s impact

Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) High Performance (HP) Unit recently completed a near two-month-long training camp in Chattogram, which was frequently obstructed by rain raising questions over the benefit of holding a camp in the monsoon season.

In the camp, which started in mid-June with 28 players, the players worked on different skillsets, had some match scenario training and even a few practice matches against Bangladesh 'A' team.

However, due to persistent rain, players had to skip outdoor training in many days and instead trained indoors.

"Rain majorly impacted the camp… There was rain in at least 20 out of 45 days. We practiced outdoors only when there was no rain and the outfield was dry," said a cricketer, who was part of the HP training camp.

Apart from rain, there were also some complaints regarding the duration of the camp as many cricketers and coaching staff felt that it could have been planned better.

"The camp ran for two months at a stretch. It became exhausting at times. When you don't have a break, it becomes difficult to run a long camp," HP batting coach Rajin Saleh told The Daily Star.

Usually, such camps are held ahead of an international assignment, but the HP Unit, which last played a full-fledged series against South Africa in May on home soil, have no series on the horizon till the series against Zimbabwe in May next year.

The lack of international exposure cleaves no way for measuring the players' development and hampers their growth, opined two members of the HP Unit's coaching panel.

"I think there should be two series, one before the camp and one after it. We could have worked on the areas which players lack in after the first series and then assess their improvement after the second one," Rajin said.

HP head coach David Hemp echoed the same sentiment, saying, "If there were more international series, it could be better for the boys. Actually, when someone only works in the nets, sometimes you can't understand his improvement. But if he plays international matches against any kind of opposition, it gives a clearer idea regarding his strength and weaknesses," Hemp concluded.

A BCB official insisted that some players from the HP Unit might feature in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup in November and some in the South Asian (SA) Games in Pakistan in January next year, but the future of both tournaments is in the dark due to the recent India-Pakistan conflict.

"The next international series is Emerging teams Asia Cup. It is yet to be decided whether the HP team or 'A' team will participate. Probably, the 'A' team will go, but it will be formed with a mix of cricketers from the HP and the 'A' team," HP Unit's outgoing manager Jamal Babu told The Daily Star.

He also informed that the HP team will hold another camp in Rajshahi between August 22 and September 10, before the players join their respective teams in the National Cricket League T20, scheduled to start on September 14.