Shakib wants more first-class cricket

Bangladesh Test captain Shakib Al Hasan asked for more first-class cricket every season for the Test team to
improve following their defeat to India on Sunday.

Bangladesh have two first-class tournaments every year, the National Cricket League and the Bangladesh Cricket League. In the NCL, eight teams are split into two tiers, meaning each team plays six matches each season if the double league system is placed.

In the BCL, a four-team tournament, a round-robin system is in place along with a final, meaning teams get to play a maximum of four matches.

That totals around 10 first-class matches per season for each player maximum, but Shakib said that for true progress in the longer format, the players need to play more cricket with the red ball domestically.

“If we want to seriously improve in Test cricket, we will have to introduce more first-class matches. There is a difference between a player playing 5-10 first-class matches and playing 60-70 first-class matches. I’m sure that Indian players who have come through first-class ranks have played over 100 matches.

“Those who play domestic cricket regularly, how many matches do they play every season? Maybe six or eight. Like this, you will have to play 10 years to play 80 first-class matches. If those 80 matches can be played within five years, then I think more good Test cricketers will arrive,” he said in a press conference on Sunday.

Shakib’s suggestion can be validated by the performance of batter Zakir Hasan, who got his Test cap in the first Test and became the third Bangladesh batter to score 50+ scores in his first two Tests after Aminul Islam Bulbul and Mominul Haque. Zakir, before his Test debut, played 71 first-class matches, where he hit 15 fifties and 14 centuries, and managed to bring that form to the international arena.

“The advantage that Zakir has had is that he is not a newbie. He has experience in his bag. He has played 70 first-class matches. You can see that in his game. There is a difference in the temperament of a 19 or 20-year-old cricketer and a 30-year-old cricketer who has played 60-70 first-class matches and has been around the national team. What I want is that if such players come, when they will give Bangladesh 5-10 years of service, they are expected to provide better service,” the Bangladesh Test captain said.