||CF Correspondent||

Bangladesh High-Performance head coach Simon welcomed BCB for forming the HP squad with emerging cricketers as he believe time had arrived to take such initiatives to make healthy pipeline for the national team.

The HP programme will effectively replace BCB’s National Cricket Academy, which will be now limited to infrastructural facilities while BCB’ s game development committee will now have their role limited only to the age-level teams.

‘’When I first arrived two or three years ago, the HP was open age , it didn’t matter what age players were, the selectors in their wisdom decided we would give opportunity to those players who have performed well domestically,’’ said Helmut.

‘’In the couple of years we have established 18 series and HP series,  so more players got opportunity in the national side and began to settle, so we came up with the idea that now its the time to concentrate on the emerging player. 

‘’I am very much looking forward to the Hp program, it’s the third year I have been involved.  Coming off the back after a great series back in Ireland, its great to see some of the players who have been involved in HP over the last few years are being involved in that squad,’’ he said.

‘’The HP program and the 'A' program works very closely, to ensure when they go to play for the national side they are gonna be ready.so seeing Mithun  and Soumya Sarker play at the same venue that they played A- Series in the last year and to win that game is terrific,’’ he concluded

‘’Mosaddek was fabulous, but having Nayem there and Yasir Ali and Rahi, some guys who have come through the program , it’s good to see that they are getting their opportunity in the national side,’’ he concluded. As with the emerging players we have lot of players who have played for the national side like Shanto, Nayeem,Zakir, there are still some guys who had some national experience and  played a lot of BPL and Dhaka premier league. And been very successful domestically,’’ he said,.