GP-BCB Academy coach Ross Turner said they had a good tour in South Africa as they could take some positives as two players performed exceptionally despite not being able to win any of the two Twenty20 games, the one-day or the longer version cricket series.
The academy side returned on Thursday after completing their three-week tour of South Africa. They suffered a 2-1 defeat in the three-match one-day series 2-1 and went down 1-0 in the two-match four-day series. They also lost both the T-20 games against the Cricket South Africa Academy side.
Right arm off-spinner Sohag Gazi and batsman Mominul Haque had been the find of the tour. ‘The tour was a tremendous success in a lot of ways though the scoreboard does not suggest that as we could not win the one-day series or the longer version games and the Twenty20 matchess,’ Turner told New Age before leaving the BCB Academy to return to Australia on a two-week leave.
‘We were highly competitive against a good opposition in South Africa and in a foreign condition, so in terms of development and production of players it can be termed as a successful tour,’ said Turner.
‘We had a surprise package in Sohag Gazi who was outstanding throughout the tour while Mominul played exceptionally well among the batsmen,’ he added.
The Australian feels that they missed a few chances to win as the top six batsmen could not come good when it really mattered.
‘There are three key areas that need to be addressed as far as batting is concerned,’ said Turner.
‘Establishing a strong hold of the top six and those batsmen to take the responsibility especially in the longer version game, such as staying at the wicket, adapting to the weather and condition, making technical changes but importantly getting rid of the bad habit of playing across,’ said Turner.
‘As far as bowling is concerned, as a collective group they did not perform as strongly as was expected. We needed greater penetration by the pace bowlers and that did not happen,’ he added.
Off-spinner Sohag Gazi, who claimed a hat-trick in the first four-day match and had been a regular wicket-taking bowler, said the tour has increased his confidence and he is looking forward to continuing his performance.
‘It was my first tour so I was a bit nervous in the first place but with the passage of time I gained confidence in the practice and it was at the highest level and in the first four-day match I grabbed eleven wickets,’ said Gazi.
‘I am happy with my achievement but I know I have still a long way to go and I am prepared to take the challenge rather than sitting on the laurels,’ he added.
Mominul Haque, the left-handed middle-order batsman who scored the only century for the GP-BCB Academy, blamed himself for losing the last four-day match as he could not finish the job on the last day. He made 84 and added only eight runs to his overnight score when the academy side needed 63 runs to win with two wickets in hand.
‘I think if I had stayed at the wicket then the result could have been different,’ said Mominul.
‘It had been a great lesson for me and I will always remember that,’ he added.
-With New Age input
