Players give valuable feedback during BCB's 'Share and Care' initiative

For the last couple of days, there has been a lot of anticipation regarding the value sharing session organized by Bangladesh Cricket Board titled 'Share & Care' at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.

The hotel entrance literally was crowded with cameras from the morning as they were eager to take shots of players as they were all set to meet BCB president Aminul Islam, who initiated the move, aimed to strengthen internal bonds, encourage direct communication, foster open and honest dialogue, and collectively reflect on the shared values that guide both the team and the board.

Members of the Bangladesh national men's team, coaching staff, team management, BCB directors, and senior officials involved in team operations were invited to the session. The cricketers and members of the management were handed a form to fill so that they could express their state of mind.

Eventually it served as a platform to discuss findings from a recent internal survey and gather valuable feedback to help shape the board's future direction and if sources are to be believed most players opted to give a minus tick mark on the paper where they were asked to evaluate the practice facilities.

Apart from that, the medical team gave a presentation explaining their activities, challenges, and shortcomings considering the fact the medical wing has faced criticism from players and coaches over issues of injury management and rehabilitation as many of them feel they fail to meet international standards.

While coming up with a roadmap to address the issues, BCB medical wing also did not shy away from presenting the real picture that includes lack of logistic support and modern facilities along with bureaucratic delays.

Top cricketing nations use state-of-the-art gyms and swimming pools and hydrotherapy facilities such as saunas and ice baths while it is not the case in Bangladesh which suggests they are lacking as far as basic infrastructure for recovery is concerned. It seemed to be a reality check for Aminul, who took over not long ago, and he seemed positive with the outcome as he insisted that they will conduct a meeting again in three months or so, to see how much progress has been made.

Highlighting the importance of the 'Share and Care' initiative, Aminul spoke with the media following the meeting.

"We - the red-ball and white-ball players, the supporting staff, the coaches, the board directors - have had a meeting today. The name of the program was 'Share and Care'. We think our players who play on the field are a team, those who sit in the dugout are a team, and we who work on the board are a team," Aminul told reporters afterwards.

"What the performance of these three teams is, we asked them eight questions. Then we analysed the data from their replies and shared the possible areas of improvement with them," he said, adding that the players were highly involved when it came to sharing their views with the board.

"The players have shared their thoughts with an open mind and given some suggestions. Thus, we came to know where we are, and we will work accordingly. Interestingly, the players were eager enough to take the mic and share their thoughts openly, going beyond our agenda. It felt really good and seemed that we are a team together. And we can progress if we work together - that's what we saw today," he said.

"We have conducted a survey among the players, where they have written their thoughts alongside marking. What really felt good is that they were physically present today and shared their problems, successes, and even said that they were happy with the support they are getting from BCB at different levels. But there are some areas of improvement.

"What felt good to me is making everyone realize that, at the end of the day, we are a team and when the team loses, the officials lose as well as the players," he said.

"Today, we had fixed questions in the survey and did not go beyond those. Later, some important senior players talked about domestic cricket. They also talked about the solution for going to BKSP to play in the DPL. We listened to them and the respective directors replied. Overall, everybody is happy," he said.

"The players have shared their thoughts. We had a marking system in our survey - from 1 to 5 - that is from 'worst' to 'best'. We got the results from analyzing the report and found that we have many improvement areas," he concluded.

Whether BCB can take a step towards reaching the long cherished goal of providing good governance remains to be seen but one thing looks certain that at least they are well aware where they are lagging behind that prevents them to progress.