BCB launches million dollar HP

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The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Monday formally launched US$1million worth High Performance Programme with an aim to have the best prepared players in international cricket.
The cash-rich project headed by BCB’s HP unit chief Mahbubul Anam will emphasize on providing the selected 22 cricketers with the world class facilities for developing physical, mental, tactical skills.
The programme, designed to prepare the players to cope with the international pressure, will be run by 36 coaching and support staff, who are expected to create a pipeline for national cricket team.
‘We hope to turn it as a factory for the national team,’ Anam said at a press conference in Dhaka. ‘This is going to be a bridge for the young players and the national team.’
Anam named 22 players for the first batch of newly launched HP programme saying that the players will be divided in four groups — batting, pace bowling, spin bowling and wicket-keeping.
The batting group includes — Liton Kumar, Rony Talukder, Shadman Islam at the top of the order while the slots for the middle-order were filled with Tasamul Haque, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudul Hasan, Mohammad Mithun and Taibur Rahman.
The spin department is decorated with leg-spinner Jubair Hossain along with left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib, Niahd uj Jaman and Nasum Ahmed.
Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed Chowdhury, Shubashish Roy, Mehedi Hasan, Dewan Sabbir and Kamrul Islam Rabbi have been selected as the pace bowlers while Nurul Hasan, Jabid Hossain and Irfan Shukkur took the place of three specialist wicket keepers.
‘We have considered the age before selecting the HP players,’ said Anam.
The project included seven progammes designed for the HP players and other national team members. While the original HP programme will be run for 17 weeks, the other programmes, which included Players of National Interest , Elite Progamme for fast bowlers, batsmen, spinners and wicketkeepers and fielding.
Other programmes will be conducted according to the need of the national team, said Anam.
Anam said they included players like Shamsur Rahman, Marshal Ayub, Naeem Islam, Shahriar Nafees and Sohag Gazi in the elite group considering that they have still a future left with the national team.
Few notable omissions in the HP unit were Abdul Mazid and Mehedi Maruf along with pace bowler Mukter Ali and Sanjamul Islam while the BCB ignored senior cricketers like Abdur Razzak, Alok Kapali, Junaid Siddique from the elite group.
‘We have designed the course for future, not for the past,’ Anam said, explaining the omission of Razzak, the leading wicket-taker for Bangladesh in limited over cricket.
The HP programme will effectively replace BCB’s National Cricket Academy, which will be now limited to infrastructural facilities. With the re-launching of HP programme under a separate management, BCB’ s game development committee will now have their role limited only to the age-level teams.
The 17-week programme will be supervised by BCB’s newly appointed director of coaching Paul Terry while his plan of action will be executed by HP head coach Mal Loye.
Stuart Karpinnen, the HP’s general manager said he has a realistic goal.
‘Ideally, we would want two players for each position in the national team,’ said Karpinnen.
The HP was in function between 2003 and 2007 but spluttered away in the subsequent years due to change of leadership in the BCB.
Source: New Age