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‘Can’t doctor pitches to suit us against Sri Lanka’
A countdown clock showing 127 days until the opening of the 2022 Asian Games is seen in Hangzhou, in China’s eastern Zhejiang province on May 6, 2022. The continental multisport extravaganza, which was scheduled for September 10 to 25, was postponed due to Covid, with new dates to be announced “in the near future”, organisers said on Friday.
The fact that Jamie Siddons loves to hang out at a coffee shop in Gulshan indicates that the Bangladesh national team batting coach seems to adapt well to the local culture. The Daily Star’s Mazhar Uddin caught up with the Australian for a cup of coffee at his favorite place where he opened up to speak about his plans and imminent challenges, and more, during an exclusive interview, the excerpts of which are as follows:
The Daily Star (DS): What challenges have you set for yourself on your second stint in Bangladesh?
Jamie Siddons: I always had thought I left Bangladesh too soon and just wanted to come back. Now, I can’t finish what I started but I can start again and do some really good stuff with the young players. The senior players are obviously there but I’m really excited to work with the junior players as there are some really talented ones like [Najmul Hossain] Shanto and [Mahmudul Hasan] Joy and obviously a few others. They already have good scores but aren’t consistent enough yet, that’s what we can work on.
It’ll take time to put those finishing touches on those guys and they just need a little bit of guidance and I think I’m the right person to do that. I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can do in the next two years, hopefully it’s more than that but my contract is for two years. It may take three or four years to get the same result as I got in the previous stint with the likes of Tamim, Mushfiqur and others.
DS: Although Bangladesh won the ODI series, the Test series didn’t go well in terms of results. What are the areas the batting unit needs to work on?
Siddons: I think we were caught by surprise that spin did the damage rather than the pace, bounce and seam. Both the pitches spun a lot. In fact, I have never seen a pitch [referring to Port Elizabeth] spin as far as it spun on day four when we got bowled out. But getting bundled out for fifty and eighty is not acceptable. We need to work on playing spin.
DS: We often see Bangladesh batting collapsing horribly. Is it only about the technique or the mental aspect of the dressing room needs to change also?
Siddons: There seems to be calmness in the dressing room but when they go out on the field, they get excited. There was no Tamim and Shakib in the first Test but it was a little too much for the younger boys since the wicket was doing a bit more.
It was a good experience though since it was my first look at them as the batting coach. Whether it’s the pressure, for which they couldn’t execute, or wrong choices of shot in the second Test, that we need to talk about.
DS: Where do you want to see the Bangladesh batting unit in Test cricket when you finish your stint this time?
Siddons: We are playing good white-ball cricket but the Test match demands endurance and concentration and is tough and boring sometimes. Our players like excitement and they need to get things done in a hurry but teaching them that it’s a different type of game where you bat for a long time.
As a batter, the aim should be to go out there at 10 am and come back at 6 pm when the umpire knocks the bails off at the end of day. It’s not about how fast you can score as no one remembers those big pull shots, rather everyone remembers how you leave those balls and how you defend, get through different spells and get through the second new ball.
But we don’t get to play as many Test matches as we play limited-over cricket, which is also a big setback.
DS: What are you expecting from the upcoming Sri Lanka series? Do you want to dominate the opponent at home?
Siddons: I don’t know about dominating but we need to be competitive against any team at home. I don’t think we can generally doctor the pitches to suit us, especially against Sri Lanka. We may have good pacers but they also have a good spin and pace bowling unit. I think this is going to be a close-fought series.
I think we should be looking to win both Tests, without a doubt, but we have to play our best cricket. Our boys will be back after their Eid celebrations and we are going to Chattogram for eight days of training before the first Test. Let’s see how it goes.