Mcdermott transforms Tigers with the idea of Golden Stump
Terms like Golden Boot and Golden Ball are very familiar with football fans but have you ever heard about Golden Stump? It is an invention of Bangladesh National Cricket Team fielding coach Shane Mcdermott. Like the above mentioned terms the Golden Stump is a reward and it is given to the best fielder of the Bangladeshi team after every series.
After every series people talk about the best batter and best bowler and often the stats reveal the undisputed best performers with bat and bowl. But there is hardly any discussion about the best fielder. This very thought provoked Mcdermott into awarding the best fielder. The fielding coach is now staying in Australia as the Bangladesh team is enjoying international break. He talked with Prothom Alo over phone from there.
“I initiated the system of awarding the best fielder with Golden Stump a year ago after taking the responsibility of Bangladesh team. After every series the best batter and best bowler are selected but that does not happen with fielding. Hence, we award the best fielder Golden Stump,” said the Australian.
The Golden Stump, unlike the name suggests, is not made of gold rather a normal stump is painted with gold paint. That is handed over officially to the best fielder. Mcdermott also informed that players discussed among themselves about the prize.
“They discuss among themselves how the best fielder worked before the series, how he achieved the excellence and so forth. The discussions create a culture about fielding in the team. Normally, discussion of fielding comes to the fore when one drops a catch and good fielding hardly becomes the topic of discussion,” said Mcdermott.
Currently Najmul Hossain is regarded as one of the best fielders of Bangladesh side. Mcdermott informed Najmul got maximum number of Golden Stump. But the biggest satisfaction of the fielding coach so far is the improvement of the pacers.
“Najmul has won most number of Golden Stump so far. Najmul-Mehidy wins regularly. But you will be surprised to know, Taskin has also won. Even Shariful won it in the last Test series. Besides these the improvement of pace bowlers are impressive.”
Mcdermott took charge as fielding coach of Bangladesh side back in March last year. During that team finding anything positive regarding the fielding of Bangladesh team was very difficult. But now the situation is changed. After beating England last month Shakib al Hasan claimed Bangladesh are the best fielding side of Asia now.
When asked what sort of changes occurs in last one year, the fielding coach replied, “When I took charge a year ago, there was not much of confidence in the team. In short, the big change has occurred in the confidence. We worked hard about one issue- just after the bowler releases the ball everyone must be keen about anticipating it. Mentally everyone should be switched on. This may sound easy while fielding but this is the most important thing.
The importance of fielding is also increased during practice. Bangladesh cricketers are seen emphasising more on fielding apart from batting and bowling.
“The period of working with fielding beyond the playing time has increased. The boys deserve credit for this. They are emphasising on fielding just like batting and bowling. If you watch our fielding sessions you will see on many occasions more time is being spent on fielding than on batting and bowling.”
Mcdermott particularly mentioned the role of senior cricketers about the change.
“We want to be the best fielding side in all three formats and the senior cricketers like Shakib and Tamim, who are leading the team, is supporting this vision. If a newbie in the dressing room sees Shakib-Tamim giving importance to fielding the job is already half-done. He will stress fielding equally as batting and bowling. The job of the coach then becomes easy.”