Our new home of cricket
by Mahabub Alam Khan
Bangladesh Cricket Board has finally decided to shift their home to Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium and decorate it like the famous Lord’s ground. But surprisingly the BCB has not yet started the renovation works at the stadium except the ground work.
State minister for youth and sports Fazlur Rahman inaugurated the stadium on July 11 last year and the BCB president inaugurated the grounds work again in February this year but they are yet to finalise a date to begin the main stadium fabrication works planned by an Australian architect.
Three high officials of the BCB gave three tentative dates in March, April and June for the renovation works to start but none of them could give a confirmed date.
BCB adviser Mahbub Anam informed they have already invited the tenders for the work and are expecting to launch the work in the first week of April. If so, the BCB will have only eight to nine months’ time to complete the whole renovation work before holding the first international matches at the venue next year.
The BCB is planning to examine the nature of its wicket by the series against Sri Lanka in February 2006. However, there are some other things like getting the ICC’s approval as an international venue and confirmation of the tour by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board.
Therefore, the BCB will have at best seven to eight months to carry out their ambitious plan.
‘The ground work is progressing rapidly and we think it will be completed by December this year,’ said Shafiqur Rahman, an adviser of the BCB and a member of the renovation work committee of Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. However, he was not sure exactly when the work will commence.
The plan includes the construction of all the modern facilities like swimming pool, gymnasium and rest rooms for players complete with a museum and a food court. Even there will be a bar for special guests and luxury suites for the VIPs.
The journalists, especially from electronics media, will have a modern commentary box and a modern press box.
Rafiqul Islam, the vice-chairman of the grounds committee, informed they were working hard to prepare the wickets ahead of the Sri Lanka series. There will be eight central strips and two practice pitches in the stadium.
The capacity of the stadium is about 55,000. However, after the completion of the renovation programme it will come down to around 50,000 due to construction of the VIP suites.
Australian architect Graeme Watson, who prepared the master plan, will supervise the whole work. A modern drainage system will installed around the ground after removing the synthetic athletics tracks.
Pitches of the stadium will be tested by expert foreign curators, a new electronic scoreboard and a large TV screen will be placed and the floodlights of the BNS
will be shifted to the Mirpur stadium.
Another advantage the national team will have there is the indoor practice facilities and a permanent camp with all other amenities. The 130-foot long indoor cricket facility will have three practice pitches and a gymnasium. National coach Dav Whatmore had requested the BCB to build a permanent home for the cricketers when he took over the charge and he will finally have his nest if everything goes on smoothly.
Presently, the national team uses the indoor facilities at the BKSP, gymnasium at the Sonargaon Hotel and the Bangabandhu National Stadium for batting practice.
Naturally the staggering practice schedules of the national team at various sites are very tiresome for the players. So the cricketers will be hugely relieved after having their dream home.
Omar Sivori Maradona of the Sixties
Omar Enrique Sivori, who succumbed to a pancreatic tumour on 17 February 2005, was the only Argentine player whose impact rivalled that of Diego Maradona - even in Naples. This luminary of Argentinian and Italian football in the 50s and 60s won the 1961 European Player of the Year award. Before passing away at the age of 69, Sivori made a final tribute to his old club by renaming his property in San Nicolas, 250 Km from Buenos Aires, ‘Juventus’.
Sivori, ‘the king of the oriundi,’ had it all: talent, a sense of theatre, and attitude.
Perhaps his greatest admirer was Umberto Agnelli, the Fiat and Juventus President, who welcomed him to Turin in 1957 with the legendary words: ‘I’ve been waiting for you for 2 years.’ ‘And I’ve been dreaming of playing for Juve for five years,’ was Sivori’s quickfire retort. The two men subsequently maintained a special relationship, and although Sivori never reached the stage of feeling able to address the Avvocato with familiar ‘tu’ form, his closeness with the Agnelli family was only subsequently enjoyed by France’s Michel Platini.
One thing is for sure the controversial Argentinian and later Italian international never left anyone feeling indifferent. When first paraded before the Juve fans, for example, Sivori proceeded to do four laps of the stadium juggling a ball. Such was his natural talent, he never once let it fall to the ground, and became an instant idol with the fans.
A sackful of honours
Socks perennially round his ankles, Sivori formed, together with Angelillo and Maschio, the legendary trio of ‘angels with dirty faces’. He was a real performer who liked to take things to extremes, often taunting defenders who dared to get too close to their man. Rather than contenting himself with beating them, he would them take perverse pleasure in letting them catch him up again, before skipping away with an impudent feint.
Despite frequently finishing matches with his legs black and blue, Sivori always gave as good as he got, clocking up no fewer than 33 matchday suspensions during his career with Juventus from 1957 to 65 and Napoli from 1965 to 69.
Initially in an incredible partnership with ‘gentle giant’ John Charles, then later alone, he led his teammates to three scudetti (1958, 60, 61) and three Italian Cups (1959, 60 and 65). He finished leading scorer in Serie A in 1960 (27 goals) and was named European Player of the Year the following year.
Of his 134 goals in 215 games, the one scored in 1961 against Real Madrid at their Bernabeu fortress has entered into football folklore.
His failure to see eye-to-eye with Juve coach Heriberto Herrera eventually hastened his departure for Naples. ‘During a Juventus-Mantua match, I fractured two of his ribs in an accidental collision,’ recalls goalkeeping legend Dino Zoff. ‘He had to be helped off the pitch by Herrera. Some time later, he came to see me and said: ‘I forgive you for the collision, no problem, but I’ll never forget that I had to go off the pitch in Herrera’s arms because of you.’
‘He was the Maradona of the 60s’
Capped 18 times by Argentina, Sivori won the Copa America in 1957 in Lima, before going on to represent the Squadra Azzurra (9 caps) at the 1962 FIFA World Cup Chile™.
Even in infirmity, Sivori remained in close contact with Italy and Juventus, so much so that the news of his death reached Italy before being officially announced a few hours later in Buenos Aires.
‘We have lost an icon and a friend,’ lamented Juve chief executive Luciano Moggi.
‘I feel a great deal of pain, because he was like an
elder brother to me,’ added the club’s vice-president Roberto Bettega.
‘He was the Maradona of the 60s,’ said former Napoli player, Antonio Iuliano. ‘We played together for four years until the end of 1969 and he taught me a great deal.’
‘With the loss of Omar Sivori, we have lost a footballing artist, a genius who communicated his passion to thousands of tifosi.
‘He will remain in our memories as truly one of a kind, running rings round opponents with his socks round his ankles, putting entertainment first, even above the result,’ was the tribute paid to him by Italian Football Federation President Franco Carraro.
— Internet
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