Siddons back and busy

Jamie Siddons, the former Bangladesh head coach and the current batting coach, spent a busy day in Chattogram on Tuesday ahead of the Tigers’ first one-day international against Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Siddons, who arrived in Bangladesh on February 2, initially joined as the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s batting adviser but was appointed as the batting coach of the national team following Ashwell Prince’s resignation.

On Tuesday, he spent a busy day with the batsmen, especially with the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, and Mushfiqur Rahim, all of who credit the Australian for improvement in their batting.

He started the day as Shakib started as the first batsman in the nets. Siddons observed him, and his observations continued to Tamim and Liton Das’ batting.

He also followed Mushfiq and Yasir Ali Chowdhury before Tamim returned to face the spinners.

After that session, Siddons went out to him and spoke about his front foot stride. Siddons was portraying that Tamim was taking a stride that was too long, which was limiting his shot range.

Siddons had a long discussion with Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo, and they were joined by Shakib later.

After Shakib bowled in the nets, he again spoke with Siddons for quite some time. There, the all-rounder chatted with his former head coach about the distance between his hands while playing the pull shot. Siddons shadowed the shot to show Shakib how to play it with more efficiency.

Siddons also had a chat with Mushfiq and Mahmudullah Riyad after both of them finished their batting session.

The Australian also spoke with youngster Najmul Hossain Shanto about his foot movement.

After Bangladesh’s practice session, Bangladesh skipper Tamim said that Jamie will be of great help to the team and the youngsters.

“Jamie can have a big impact. It’s tough to do it when a series is going on, but he is trying to do as much as possible. I am sure that the youngsters will profit from working with him,” Tamim said.

The last time Siddons coached Bangladesh, he created a group of players that have served the national team for over a decade, and Bangladesh fans will surely have their fingers crossed to see him do that again.