- Joined
- Aug 12, 2023
- Runs
- 21,757
In a Post-Match interview Mike Hesson's candid thoughts on pitch and performance:
Reporter: Coach, a tough loss today. Your team got off to a quick start, but then seemed to struggle. What are your initial thoughts on the performance?
Hesson: Look, we obviously got off to a little bit of a flyer, and that probably was more the fact that a batsman played four or five exceptional shots, which gave a bit of a false indication as to how the surface was playing. And then, you know, we didn't help ourselves through the middle. We chose some poor options. When the ball started to nip through and bounce steeply, we probably didn't assess that it was a bit more challenging and then took some high-risk shots. And then a couple of run-outs through the middle, certainly with a set batter, didn't help.
Reporter: You've coached RCB and all over the world. We've seen so many wickets. Do you feel these sorts of wickets are ideal for a proper team match?
Hesson: No, I think it's not helpful for anybody. I think if people are trying to prepare for the Asia Cup or a World Cup, that's not acceptable. Now, that's no excuse for some of the decisions we made with the bat, but in international cricket, that pitch is not up to international standard, for sure.
Reporter: Just to reiterate on the pitch, yesterday the Bangladesh captain was quite wary about a similar pitch that Bangladesh used against Australia and New Zealand a few years ago. We asked him a number of times whether this is the sort of pitch that's going to happen. Are you surprised that Bangladesh uses this sort of pitch at home, and isn't it detrimental to their own development?
Hesson: Look, I don't think it helps them when they leave Bangladesh. But I think, you know, batting first in those situations is challenging when you're not quite sure whether 100's good enough, 130, 150. And I think when you go away and you play on flatter surfaces, you can get exposed. So I don't think it's good for anybody, but it still doesn't take away the fact that you've got to perform better on any surface. And that's something that we'll be looking at as a team ourselves.
Reporter: Coach, I don't know if the question has been asked already, but regarding the urgency of the batting, in the first place, you were scoring at a good rate in the first few overs, and then after that, there was a decline. Do you think they could have just stopped, as per the condition? What do you think?
Hesson: Yeah, I've probably answered that question earlier on, where I think Zaman got us ahead of the game through playing some exceptional shots, and it probably defied the surface. And then we thought that it was potentially better than it was, and then when the seamers came on, it was pretty clear that it wasn't, and we didn't adjust quickly enough.
Reporter: You also stay with the commentary team in the IPL, so you really focus on the T20 franchises and also panels. Do players play similar T20s on this sort of wicket in the IPL? What sort of suggestions would you give to improve their cricket and the wicket also?
Hesson: Look, I mean, I'm not here to help Bangladesh in terms of how they go about things. But I mean, I think, you know, to develop cricketers, you want good cricket wickets. And I think that even during the BPL, to be fair, there have been some really good cricket wickets here. It's just when often you play internationals, they're not quite up to that standard.
Reporter: Coach, a tough loss today. Your team got off to a quick start, but then seemed to struggle. What are your initial thoughts on the performance?
Hesson: Look, we obviously got off to a little bit of a flyer, and that probably was more the fact that a batsman played four or five exceptional shots, which gave a bit of a false indication as to how the surface was playing. And then, you know, we didn't help ourselves through the middle. We chose some poor options. When the ball started to nip through and bounce steeply, we probably didn't assess that it was a bit more challenging and then took some high-risk shots. And then a couple of run-outs through the middle, certainly with a set batter, didn't help.
Reporter: You've coached RCB and all over the world. We've seen so many wickets. Do you feel these sorts of wickets are ideal for a proper team match?
Hesson: No, I think it's not helpful for anybody. I think if people are trying to prepare for the Asia Cup or a World Cup, that's not acceptable. Now, that's no excuse for some of the decisions we made with the bat, but in international cricket, that pitch is not up to international standard, for sure.
Reporter: Just to reiterate on the pitch, yesterday the Bangladesh captain was quite wary about a similar pitch that Bangladesh used against Australia and New Zealand a few years ago. We asked him a number of times whether this is the sort of pitch that's going to happen. Are you surprised that Bangladesh uses this sort of pitch at home, and isn't it detrimental to their own development?
Hesson: Look, I don't think it helps them when they leave Bangladesh. But I think, you know, batting first in those situations is challenging when you're not quite sure whether 100's good enough, 130, 150. And I think when you go away and you play on flatter surfaces, you can get exposed. So I don't think it's good for anybody, but it still doesn't take away the fact that you've got to perform better on any surface. And that's something that we'll be looking at as a team ourselves.
Reporter: Coach, I don't know if the question has been asked already, but regarding the urgency of the batting, in the first place, you were scoring at a good rate in the first few overs, and then after that, there was a decline. Do you think they could have just stopped, as per the condition? What do you think?
Hesson: Yeah, I've probably answered that question earlier on, where I think Zaman got us ahead of the game through playing some exceptional shots, and it probably defied the surface. And then we thought that it was potentially better than it was, and then when the seamers came on, it was pretty clear that it wasn't, and we didn't adjust quickly enough.
Reporter: You also stay with the commentary team in the IPL, so you really focus on the T20 franchises and also panels. Do players play similar T20s on this sort of wicket in the IPL? What sort of suggestions would you give to improve their cricket and the wicket also?
Hesson: Look, I mean, I'm not here to help Bangladesh in terms of how they go about things. But I mean, I think, you know, to develop cricketers, you want good cricket wickets. And I think that even during the BPL, to be fair, there have been some really good cricket wickets here. It's just when often you play internationals, they're not quite up to that standard.
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