Old-ball skills key to pace unit's success - Ottis Gibson

by Atif Azam • Last updated on Tue, Jun 30, 2020, 04:37 PM

"Fast bowlers don't get to bowl with the old ball (in Bangladesh)" - Gibson © Getty

Ottis Gibson, Bangladesh's bowling coach, has emphasised the need for the pacers to hone their old-ball skills in order to be successful in the post-COVID19 world. He has further stressed on the need for a plan of action to be implemented in a way such that pacers get the opportunity to use the old ball, particularly given the lack of exposure in local and domestic cricket in Bangladesh.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed interim changes to its playing regulations in the recent past that included a ban on the use of saliva to shine the ball. It follows, theoretically, that the ball is likely to get old more quickly than it did before.

According to the ICC, the umpires will be initially lenient for the players to get accustomed to the new rules. However, subsequent misdemeanours will result in a warning for the team. In addition, the accidental use of saliva will be followed by the protocol of the umpires cleaning and sanitizing the ball before the resumption of play.

Gibson, who joined Bangladesh in January 2020 for a period of two years, has been proactive about taking on post-COVID cricket and has thereby insisted on the need for domestic pacers to gain old-ball exposure, in order to acquire the experience and expertise to potentially implement it in international cricket in future.

"Fast bowlers don't get to bowl with the old ball (in Bangladesh)," Gibson told Cricbuzz. "When shine comes off the ball, the spinners take over. This is true even in domestic cricket. Spinners take the ball and they finish the innings. As a result, the seamers don't get to bowl with the old ball.

"This is something that needs to be seriously addressed. At the domestic level, fast bowlers need to be bowling two or three spells - a practice they need to get accustomed to if they are to bowl outside of Bangladesh, in conditions more conducive to fast bowling," Gibson goes on to explain. "It all comes down to the experience they get in Bangladesh. This is one area we must look into. And it has to start with domestic cricket; that's how they'll gain exposure and experience."

Bangladesh's pace duo, Abu Jayed and Ebadat Hossain have echoed Gibson's sentiments and line of reasoning, reiterating that they need to be more effective with the old ball in the near future.

"It's true that ball will be old more quickly than before, since we are not allowed to use saliva to shine the ball and so we need to be effective with the old ball," said Jayed. "In that case, we need to bowl a lot of overs with the old ball in domestic cricket, which is essential to acquire expertise in the art of reverse swing. It's not something that can be acquired in the short-term. It requires practice.''

Gibson maintained that he was quite confident about the pace unit of Bangladesh and credited High-Performance coach Chamapaka Ramanayke for grooming the youngsters.

"I think every team now has a specialist fast bowling group, and Bangladesh are no different. Champaka is looking after the fast bowlers and has done a really good job,"said Gibson with an unmistakable air of confidence. "You've got Al-Amin, Saifuddin, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur, Shafiul just in the limited-overs format. Additionally, in Test cricket, you have to Ebadat and Taskin who hasn't played for a while.

Gibson was optimistic about the future of pace bowling in Bangladesh and even picked out some local talent from the Bangladesh Premier League who had the potential to make it in international cricket, with the strong belief that the country had enough fast-bowling talent, which would manifest itself if they work to a viable plan of action.

"I saw two guys in the BPL: Mukidul Islam and left-armed seamer called Hasan Rana," Gibson added, clearly implying that there was no dearth of domestic talent in the country. "So 12 men are already there and we can bring them up to the international standards and there is no reason we cannot look up to them. I believe they have got the potential to do that. As long as the intent and the will exists, there is no reason they can't succeed as a pace bowling unit at the international level."

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Old-ball skills key to pace unit's success - Ottis Gibson

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