Cricketers outside of the national team sharply are divided over the new fitness marking for National Cricket League (NCL) as they said that the lack of facilities will make it tougher for them to pass it.
The fitness test is normally done through the beep Test which is a multi-stage fitness test used to measure cardiovascular fitness and maximum oxygen uptake. It is commonly used by coaches and trainers to measure athlete fitness.
Bangladesh Cricket Board recently have instructed that cricketers of the 30-member preliminary squad of respective divisions for the upcoming NCL will have to get 11 in the beep test if they want to be included in the 18-member squad that will take part in the NCL.
The new marking system is said to be the brain child of High Performance Unit head coach Simon Helmut as he made the proposal to the tournament committee for the competition, scheduled to start from October 7.
Chief selector Minhajul Abedin had approved the idea and in the process it was granted for execution of the new fitness regime.
Former national cricketers Ashraful said that they need to have training facilities to prepare them for the fitness test.
“A new mark is given for Beep test. It was 9 before and now it is 11. This is for us who are playing at domestic level. Everyone is discussing among us.
The ones who are playing the First class matches, if all of them had the same facilities then it would not be any issue to give 11 in the test. Last year I had 11.5. But we are out of national side, HP and under-23 and face barriers to train alone,” Ashraful said here on Thursday.
Former national cricketer Shuvagato Hom echoed the same sentiment.
“Of course it is tough. This is tough because, the players who are outside (the national team), we are not able to do the camps. We participate in a fitness training camp just before five to seven days before the league. I don’t know how much that will help. But we are trying to improve within that period,” said Shuvagato.
Left-arm spinner Mosharaf Hossain welcomed the initiative but stated the importance of training facilities.
“This (Beep test) was very necessary to make the structure of domestic league more competitive. If the structure of a domestic league is not strong then a player can be comfortable at international level.
“So if a player can perform at domestic level, he can cope easily in that place (international). That’s why it was important. And for us, if we could have a one month conditioning camp then it would have been much better. But we have no time left now,” Mosharraf said.
Former national cricketers Nasir Hossain said that he is not totally convinced with the fitness test marking system as he believes he had seen lot of team mates performing in the middle despite failing in the fitness test.
“Many get 12-13 even 14 in beep test but often they are not fit enough to play a match. Sometimes who get 8 to 11, they look more fit in the game. So I think beep test is just a test.
“You can understand your fitness level through this. But it is not like you can play only if you get (minimum) 11 otherwise you cannot,” Nasir said.
