Mohammed Akram's latest blog entry consists of his thoughts on the future of Bangladesh Cricket, the issues with selection of Coach for Pakistan and a look at the upcoming Pakistan Vs England series.

27th December, 2011

We have witnessed some on-field success for the Pakistan team in 2011 and the recently concluded series between Pakistan and Bangladesh was a mismatch, merely confirming the gulf in class between the two teams. However, having been out in Bangladesh covering the matches, I believe there are a number of key areas that must be addressed by the Pakistani management to maximise the chances of success and build on the good work already done.

Cricket in Bangladesh

Bangladesh have appointed a number of Australian coaches in recent times – from Jamie Siddons to Dav Whatmore to Stuart Law who currently holds the position. I'm not taking anything away from these coaches – they're amongst the best in the world and I have a great deal of respect for their skills. The points I have been making focus primarily on the cultural differences that I believe may adversely affect the younger players in particular. The Bangladeshi boys are very shy and are not very familiar with these international coaches - they need someone who they can talk to, someone who they can discuss issues freely with. Talking to a foreign coach for Asian players is completely different – I've been there, worked with different coaches and talking to a coach from the same culture is a lot easier.

Increased importance needs to be placed on four-day cricket in Bangladesh. A lot of Twenty20 matches are played domestically, and when combined with significant ODI matches, this can result in a lack of development opportunities in the longer form of the game. It seems few care about four-day first class cricket in the country.

Although Bangladesh have not tasted a lot of success in the international arena, there is hope. I have not witnessed such passion for the game anywhere else in the world. Youngsters who come to the ground love their cricket and are very well behaved! I went to watch some grass-roots cricket and saw how much people loved it – truly amazing. I'm convinced Bangladesh will improve and can assure you, provided the right facilitators are put in place, will be a completely different team within the next five years.


The Team

The middle order needs the injection of explosive batsmen. I've been playing cricket for two decades and during this period, the Pakistani batting line-up has always consisted of one or two technically correct players around whom the remaining three or four attacking players; any one of which could come in and change the scenario of the game. It's this quality that the Australians and English players are afraid of. They are scared of our passion and our flair, this uniquely Pakistani attribute of one player being able to change the course of a game. If you look at Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq or Asad Shafiq, none of them are attacking players - they are all very steady.

Every team needs someone who can come in, score a quick 50 or 60 runs and change the complexion of a game – for Pakistan, Umar Akmal is the ideal candidate to fulfil this role.

People say Umar Akmal is too big for his boots, but what is truly required is proper handling of the player by the manager or coach. He is the golden boy and can easily become a great cricketer if someone looks after him – he certainly has all the shots.

Similarly, the bowling line-up is lacking in imagination - it's heavily dependent on Ajmal, but even his doosra is predictable nowadays and in a broader sense, Pakistan require an increased pool of pace bowlers from which to select. Pakistan should have tried Mohammad Talha before facing England. There has been heavy reliance on Umar Gul, but he's tired and needs rest to be ready for the next series.

There is a consistent theme to all these issues – the team need players who can come in and change the game. Whether that be through Umar Akmal in the middle order, or the introduction of Mohammad Talha's extra pace which is our traditional strength, we need some sort of X-factor.


Coaching – The Recent Past and Present

Mohsin Khan is a senior figure for whom I have a lot of respect, but my personal observations during my time in Bangladesh were that his actions were more indicative of a chief selector, a position in which he was successful, rather than a coach. He's not a capable coach, as to be so you need strategy, planning and I didn't see any of those attributes in him. We didn't see the level of intensity in the field which other coaches nowadays can produce either.

Pakistan previously defeated a mediocre Sri Lanka side, a team bereft of their star bowlers Malinga and Muralitharan, a team who haven't won a match in 2011 - even Bangladesh will beat Sri Lanka at some point.

Against England, Pakistan will need meticulous planning, strategy, and fire-power in the middle order which can look England in the eyes. England have a much stronger side, good spinners, a pace attack and their batting is strong too. Off the field their facilitators are quality and the coaching staff is second to none, so all the components are in place. We are purely relying on Mohsin Khan and the boys – credit to them they are gelling together, but we need a good planner.

In my opinion, Waqar could fulfil this role and if figures of about $18,000 per month are being reported for Whatmore, I believe Waqar would accept $10,000 to do the same job. I'm not asserting that Waqar's reasons for resigning from his coaching position were financial – there were a combination of problems, but small ones, including the change of Board and Ijaz Butt who was dictating things. You have to pay respect to Waqar Younis, who is a big name and despite having spent time learning the tactics of the trade, he ultimately left because he was not happy with the set-up. People weren't listening to him - he wanted to build the best team for Pakistan and was doing a great job. However, a few players and members of management weren't happy with him and he in turn wasn't very happy with selection and all that, but ultimately all he wanted to do was to give Pakistan a good team.


Coaching – Future Appointments

The Pakistan team need a domestic coach who understands our culture and speaks the language. Dav Whatmore has built his reputation with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, but I have spoken to both teams' management and other related parties and people aren't particularly enamoured with him. His Australian style of coaching will fail in Pakistan and without a doubt, there will be a culture shock. At the moment, we have a new chairman who doesn't know anything about cricket and it's vital he appoints the correct advisers. It's not his fault necessarily - someone appointed him and we accept that. Having spoken to lots of the Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi boys, Whatmore will be a misfit in our culture and someone who won't be aware of the politics of Pakistani cricket - he may well come to Pakistan and leave after a year anyway!

I maintain that Waqar Younis or Muddassar Nazar, who is working with the ICC, are quality coaches so why not use them? The Pakistan players, especially the youngsters, will look up to them and a domestic coaching appointment is the course we should take. If not those two, why don't we get someone who is recently retired? Someone who has played all kinds of cricket? There are plenty others. Whatmore will take up to a year to settle in, and the Australian way of playing cricket is completely different to what we are accustomed to.

It's a similar situation to the challenges faced by Bangladesh – they essentially need someone from Sri Lanka, Pakistan or India to understand the requirements of the boys and their culture. When they're new to the side, they are shy and similar to the Pakistani youngsters in that they need someone who they can openly approach and discuss issues with.

Speaking to a lot of the boys, they all believe Muddassar Nazar is the best choice.


Final word on the England Series....

England are playing very good cricket at the moment. Pakistan will need to develop detailed plans for each individual and the way cricket is played nowadays, they will need the coach around. The individuals in the team will also need to step up. The middle-order must be strengthened, and pace bowling too. Leg-spin has always been a consistent component of Pakistani cricket too, but we don't have such players, or express fast bowlers to win games. The left-arm and off-spinners upon which Pakistan rely heavily are very predictable.

The wickets will be similar to Pakistani pitches and obviously Graeme Swann is a good bowler, but I feel Monty Panesar is as good on such pitches. The England batting has also improved against spin.

To be successful, Pakistan must play with passion and flair and their natural game. From what I've seen, the run rate was under three throughout the series and when you have Younis and Misbah in the side, you don't need another two guys who block or manoeuvre the balls into gaps – you need explosive batsmen, stroke-players who are going to make the opposition bowlers think before they deliver the ball - you need game changers!

I wish Pakistan all the best for the upcoming series.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed above are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of PakPassion.net.

PakPassion.net is a cricket fan's forum and strives to bring to the fans the views of those involved in the game. The views of such external contributors are presented without editorialising or comment by PakPassion.net.

PakPassion.net does not accept responsibility for any reliance being placed on any of the information contained in this external article; anyone relying on the information presented herein does so entirely at their own risk.