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ICL exodus worries Siddons
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With the Indian
Cricket League (ICL) attracting more players,
national coach Jamie Siddons fears that if the
rebel league further poaches Bangladesh's top
cricketers then it would cripple the sport in
the country and jeopardise its Test status.
Siddons was of the opinion that if the team lose
more players to the ICL, it would likely to end
the Test status Bangladesh gained eight years
ago. |
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''If we were to lose
another six players out of our current team it
probably would cripple us. I don't see how we
can be competitive if that happens again,'' the
former Australian cricketer said on the eve of
the team’s departure for South Africa on
Saturday.
''I don’t know how we stop them either, that’s
the hard part.
There’s no way to put an end to it when
Bangladesh's the ICL keeps throwing that sort of
money at the players. Cricket is definitely
going to suffer,'' Siddons asserted.
In September, Bangladesh cricket chiefs banned
13 players for 10 years after they signed with
the unauthorised ICL, reportedly for 200,000
dollars each over a three-year period.
Led by former captain Habibul Bashar, Bangladesh
cricketers are playing for Dhaka Warriors in the
ongoing ICL.
However, Siddons, who was a former assistant
coach with the Australian team, was engaged to
convince his players to wait until they had
retired from international cricket before
signing with the ICL.
''They (ICL) are taking young players who are
not even at their peak yet and offering them
lots of money. The players see the dollar signs
and go,'' the 44-year-old Australian said.
He further said in a country like Bangladesh,
where there was non-existance of competitive,
losing players at the international level has
come at a heavy price.
''The countries are the ones that develop the
cricketers the ICL takes, so if there's no money
coming back from those tournaments and into the
infrastructure then eventually it's all going to
dry up,'' Saddins stated.
The coach was, however, happy with his team's
maiden one-day victory over New Zealand last
month in Dhaka.
But he regretted that two of the 13, who had
left the team for ICL, would have been part of
the national side and could have helped
Bangladesh win more matches.
''The team averages one or two wins like that a
year, even less sometimes, depending on the
tournaments we play,'' said Siddons.
''It's the first time that we’ve beaten New
Zealand. We should have won the series.''
Bangladesh lost the three-match series 2-1
against New Zealande, led by Daniel Vettori,
after winning the first one-dayer.
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Siddons, who was
appointed as the national coach last year, said
he was looking forward to the 2011 World Cup to
be held in the sub-continent.
''We've had four or five guys who've made
hundreds against good teams. They have never
done it before in the past six or seven months. |
''We've just beaten New Zealand for the first time, so
lots of little things are showing signs that some good
times are just round the corner. But the team is young
and inconsistency is still there,'' he said.
Siddons further said the top-order batsmen would hold
the key to the team’s success in South Africa.
''They are vulnerable at the moment but if they find
their feet we'll be competitive without a doubt. Our
middle-order batsmen and bowling will be okay, I think,
over there,'' he added.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh will open its tour with a
Twenty20 match in Johannesburg. They will then play
three One-day Internationals and two Tests.
--UNI, Dhaka |
