Stuart Law returns with expectations from Bangladesh U-19 team
Stuart Law returns with expectations from Bangladesh U-19 team: Earlier this month Stuart Law was appointed as the technical advisor of the Bangladesh U-19 team who are training for the World Cup in early next year. Law’s love for directing a budding player to develop his capabilities has brought him back to Bangladesh for the second time.
The programme will continue for 16 weeks, consisting of 3 phases. Law landed in Dhaka on Monday, will accompany the team for the 1st phase of the programme starting 29 August till September 10 and will stay on for a month. The team will play some practice matches as well, but the emphasis will be laid on the training session which will go on at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium.
Stuart Law has also coached the senior Bangladesh team for tenure of 9 months from June 2011 to March 2012. Law has also worked with teams like Australia and Sri Lanka and also had a period of training with the Australian U-19 team after he left the job as Bangladesh’s head coach.
“I loved working with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Australia national teams,” Law said. “It is a different challenge to get a player who is around 16 to 19, offer them advice, see them take it on board and put it into practice. It gives me more of a buzz than I used to get hundreds. Bangladesh Under-19 is my team.”
“I don’t like losing, so I want to see them be the best I can be. If by chance, with good hard work and some luck, we can lift the trophy at the end of February, I will be very happy.”
“Since leaving Bangladesh, I worked with Australia’s burgeoning young players. They aren’t as physically matured. You have to take a different approach. You need to be having fun to play the best cricket. It seems some of these young guys have worked that out already. I am not here to change anything. I am here to help the system the way it is at the moment. They have got the plan in place. I am just here to add value to the plan.”
The Bangladesh U-19 team has been performing well ever since the World Cup 2014 that was held in UAE. They also won 3 ODI series against South Africa and Sri Lanka under the coaching of Mizanur Rahman Babul. The U-19 team defeated South Africa from 5-2 in their homeland. The performance put up by the young side lead BCB to call Law back, but he believes only basics can contain the pressure of playing the World Cup at home.
“There is always pressure when you are playing at home,” Law said. “They have to learn to deal with the pressure if they choose to play cricket as their profession. It is nothing compared to the pressure they have to face in international cricket. It is nice that the Bangladesh public expect the Bangladeshi teams to do really well. It is a credit to the team that they have done well in the recent past. We have to forget about winning the thing and worry about the basics.”
Bangladesh has never reached the semifinals in the World Cup, but has managed to win the Plate championship in the U-19 World Cup in the years, 1998, 2004, 2010 and 2014. The progress that the Bangladesh cricket has been showing in the recent time will lead to the expectation of lifting the cup especially with the series taking place at home on February 2016.
Law said champions are not made overnight, but the dedication and hard work with which this team has been working has been inspiring enough for him to not to change anything.
“To make a champion team is a difficult challenge. It is not all down to one person either. As long as the players continue to work hard and coaches continue to nurture the talent and not try to make it too difficult and try not to change too many things.
“There’s no magic formula that can be used to make a world champion team. It all comes down to good, honest hard work and performing well on each day. The game is not about winning. It is about turning up and doing your best every day.”
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