When Simmons attended the Bangladesh coaches’ consultation at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Saturday, protests for and against Shakib began. All this, two days before the first Test.
“[Keeping distractions away from the players] “It’s a big part of our job over the next few days to make sure the focus is on the cricket and not the outside of cricket,” Simmons said. “We can control how we prepare for Monday, that’s how we’re trying to get the team focused.
“The good thing is that we have a very impressive event to organize for. We won the closest events and we are competing for the [WTC] last. My first name is cricket and I want to prepare the team for Monday. The two extreme days [of training] It had been lavish. “We have tried to let out the uncertainty that exists in all of cricket and be conscious about preparing for Monday.”
Simmons arrives with extensive coaching experience, having worked with Zimbabwe, Ireland, West Indies, Afghanistan and PNG, as well as a number of T20 franchises over the last 20 years. He was one of the candidates interviewed for the Bangladesh post in 2017, to fill the position vacated by Hathurusinghe, but was not selected.
“These types of reports [with other teams] “They will support me over the next few days to get me ready for Monday,” Simmons said. “Afghanistan helped me with the language barrier from time to time. Ireland helped me develop younger players. All of this is available in [handy] at the end of the present. I have to use all the reports on this task.
“The interest comes from seeing the quality of the young players. They performed well against Pakistan,” he said. “They didn’t do well in the T20Is against India, but they played against the best T20 team in the world, so you have things to take from there. It all added up to a task that I enjoyed. First, [there are] young players to develop. Second, there are Tests and ODIs involved. It wasn’t a difficult decision [to take the job]”.
He believes Bangladesh have a good chance of overtaking South Africa, who have not secured a Test order in the subcontinent in the last ten years, but was careful to take them in their stride.
“It’s definitely a good opportunity. Bangladesh are usually very strong at home. So it’s a very good opportunity for us to win the Test series,” Simmons said. “South Africa has that [record in the subcontinent] weighs on their heads, but they are a resilient team. “They will work hard to change that.”
