Bangladesh want to play Tests on 'proper wickets', says Phil Simmons

As Bangladesh prepares to face Zimbabwe on April 20 at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, head coach Phil Simmons stated on Friday that the team wants to play Test cricket on proper wickets rather than spin-friendly tracks. The Test series is being considered the beginning of a new era, with most members of the 'fabulous five' - apart from Mushfiqur Rahim - no longer playing Test cricket. Mushfiqur, who has played 94 Tests so far, is likely to end his career after completing 100 Tests and will be the last cricketer from his generation to represent the country in the longer format, an era largely dependent on spinners rather than pacers. "Our plan is to prepare proper wickets and try to play as we want to take the Test team in the direction. We are not required to prepare a spin track. There's no talk of preparing a spin or seaming track. It looks hard and really nice," Simmons said ahead of the Test series at Sylhet on Friday. "I must say that he [Mushfiqur] has given so much for Bangladesh cricket. Both him and Mahmudullah, Bangladesh cricket owes a lot to them. [Mushfiqur] is as professional as they come. He thinks he can get the runs that he deserves from the point of view of how much he is working. He desires success. He is working on getting better. He has had a phenomenal run against Zimbabwe. Let's make sure he gets where he wants to, in this Test," he said. "Preparation has been good. The facilities, in my opinion, are like a dream. You can do what you want. It is close to the hotel. We have done a lot of things in a short time." Simmons added they are well aware that Zimbabwean pacer Blessing Muzarabani will be a key threat for them during the Test series but stressed that they are not thinking too far ahead. "He [Blessing] is a threat to any team in the world. His height gives him different advantages. But again, a number of the guys have played against him before, mostly in franchise cricket. They have an idea about him. They are making sure that they have a way of playing against him," said Simmons. "I don't know about a whitewash. We take one step at a time. After we win the first Test, we begin discussing winning the series. I can't look until Chittagong. I need to focus on Sylhet," he said. Simmons added that they are not losing sleep over the absence of a left-arm pacer in the squad, and he expressed his delight at Nahid Rana's pace. "It is good to have a left-arm pacer nowadays in international cricket, but if you don't, as long as you have two or three quality right-arm pace bowlers, we are happy with the four quicks we have in the team right now," said Simmons. "Nahid Rana has the pace that most fast bowlers are dying for. If he is bowling in the right areas, he is definitely going to trouble batters," he said. "There's been a lot of improvement since 2005. However, they must continue to improve in order to rise to the top three. We still have a lot of work to do," he concluded. The second Test is scheduled to be played in Chattogram from April 28.