Newly-appointed fielding coach Grant Halsall said he will focus on close catching during the build up to the upcoming Test series against Zimbabwe to help Bangladesh spinners reap some reward of home condition. The Zimbabwe-born cricketer, who was contracted with England until this month, has joined the Tigers’ set up formally on Sunday on a two-year deal. He also worked with the Bangladesh team on a temporary basis during their recent tour of the West Indies.
‘Obviously the focus in the Test series will be a lot of close catching,’ Halsall told reporters at Mirpur from the sideline of a training session.
‘The focus shifts slightly as you go from Test to ODI cricket. In the Test matches the close catching becomes critical especially with the outstanding slow bowlers we have.
‘But then again, obviously on the wickets in the subcontinent, wickets with the new ball becomes crucial, so your slip fielders have to take every opportunity.
‘It’s not like playing in England where you are going to get 28, 29 or 30 opportunities to take wickets in a Test match. You get less opportunity, so you need to take your chances.
‘The fast bowlers won’t be able to swing the ball for 60 out of the 90 overs in the day.
‘So when the ball is swinging you need to take those chances. Our focus will be on close catching and creating pressure in Tests,’ said Halsall, a medium pacer and a middle-order batsman during his playing time.
Close catching has been an Achilles heel for Bangladesh for many times, but Halsall, with his limited experience with the Bangladesh team, said they have enough players in their line-up to become good close catchers.
‘Sakib [al Hasan] is obviously an outstanding catcher,’ he said. ‘You have got an excellent role model in the Test captain, somebody who works as hard as he does, he has given himself the best chance.
‘So I think we are lucky that there are a couple of senior players who are doing well. Some of the youngsters, the likes of Bijoy [Anamul], Nasir Hossain, their skills are genuinely exciting. So, when we do a lot of the competitive stuff, you’ll see their skills are world class.
‘It’s making them believe they are world class players and then transferring that stuff from training into actual matches,’ said Halsall.
-With New Age input
