Bangladesh are hoping to reap short- and long-term rewards with four different teams touring South Africa and Australia multiple times during this southern hemisphere winter. Bangladesh drawing the two-match Test series against Australia is the crowning glory of the year but BCB's top decision-makers have found huge value in the other three tours.
Chief selector Habibul Bashar and Mohammad Salahuddin, the head coach of the High Performance unit, have seen areas of growth and opportunity to improve in the four tours. Around 63 cricketers toured with the Bangladesh Emerging, High Performance, A team and the senior men's Test team, in a total of four tours to South Africa and Australia.
Apart from policy gains for BCB's cricketing pathway, there have also been individual highlights. Towhid Hridoy smashed a record-breaking unbeaten 350 not out against South Africa A in an unofficial Test match in Potchefstroom. It is the highest first-class score for Bangladesh, and the highest by an overseas batter in South Africa.
The uncapped Md Rubel meanwhile grabbed headlines with his 23 wickets in the Top End T20 series in Darwin. A mystery spinner who turned 30 early this year, Rubel picked up a five-wicket and two four-wicket hauls in the tournament.
Rubel was one of 22 uncapped cricketers, roughly a third of the total, to feature across the four tours. Bangladesh's selectors haven't assessed such a large group of uncapped players in overseas conditions before.
The double Africa mission
Bangladesh are touring South Africa for a two-match Test series in November. The series has extra significance for Bangladesh, who are in fourth place on the WTC points table, and with an outside shot of a place in the final at the Oval in June next year.
With two Bangladesh teams having toured South Africa since July this year, Bashar is hopeful the main squad will have some knowledge of the conditions on offer. Bangladesh Emerging team toured first with 22 players who played two four-day and a one-day tri-series. Among them, only five had international experience.
They ended the tour with three wins in five games, with the tri-series final getting washed out. Uncapped players such as Iqbal Hossain, Iftakhar Hossain, Chowdhury Mohammad Rizwan, Rohanat Doullah Borson and Mahfijul Islam stood out for the visitors.
Later, when the A team toured, they lost the first unofficial Test but Hridoy's triple-hundred helped them secure a draw in the second match.
"The big question mark is what conditions we are provided in South Africa (during the upcoming Test series in November)," Bashar told Cricinfo. "We have often encountered some problems due to high altitude in the early stages of a South Africa tour. Getting accustomed to these conditions is vital, so it was a positive for the Bangladesh A side playing in South Africa.
"You will see that most of the top cricketing nations send their A team to tour the country where the senior men's team is about to tour. At least six or seven of their regular Test players are often on these A tours. We haven't done this in the past, so this was a real plus for us to send the A team to South Africa ahead of the Test matches (in November)."
Salahuddin, who recently joined the men's team as the high performance head coach after spending two years as the senior assistant coach, said that the South Africa tour in particular showed important gaps in Bangladesh cricket's overall health.
"If we can continue to tour these countries, it will be very fruitful for us, especially South Africa," Salahuddin said. "They are the current WTC champions. Playing them, we can figure out how much of a gap we have with them, and where in particular we can fill those gaps in the near future.
"I have clearly noticed that South Africa are far ahead of us in terms of maturity at a High Performance level. Our fast bowling, at this level, is far below their quality. The difference between the two sets of bowlers is huge. Our bowlers, however, are figuring out how to bowl in those conditions in South Africa.
"I think our batters have done considerably well on these tours. We were neck and neck in the white-ball formats, while we fought well in the red-ball matches too. We have to catch up quickly if we are to compete at the highest level."
Rubel's Australian surprise
Away in Australia, Bangladesh made history by defeating the home side in the Darwin Test. A week later, mystery spinner Rubel lit up the Top End T20. He returned figures of 4 for 18, 3 for 25, 4 for 15, 3 for 30, 5 for 21 and 3 for 15 in a tournament that has a fair mix of capped and uncapped cricketers fighting for bigger roles.
"We have been tracking him since the BPL last year. He is a mystery bowler who performs regularly. He also happens to be a good fielder. He is not too young, but Mike Hussey made his international debut quite late, and he went on to become one of the best batters to play for Australia. Age won't stand in Rubel's way," Bashar said.
It would not be a huge surprise if Rubel has a role to play for Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2028.
Bashar said that Bangladesh's domestic performers have often struggled to translate their success to the international level. The lack of A team tours had caused a big gap between the two levels, but now these tours have allowed selectors to assess a significant group of the country's leading uncapped performers.
"It is difficult to understand the quality of a cricketer solely based on domestic competitions," Bashar said. "We will find many players who do well in the domestic arena, but can't really perform at a higher level. 'A' team tours serve both the players and selectors to understand where they stand. When we get a lot of A team matches, it helps us identify certain skills and players, and then prepare them for international cricket."
Age no bar, says Bashar
The three tours also produced some interesting selection choices. They picked the likes of Sabbir Rahman and Mohammad Mithun, who are 34 and 35 years old respectively. Having last played for Bangladesh five years ago, they were picked on the back of impressive domestic showings over the last three seasons. Sabbir made two fifties and a 47 in the Top End T20s, while Mithun was picked for Bangladesh A team's one-day leg of the South Africa tour.
"I have always believed that age shouldn't be a hindrance in selection," he said. "My policy is to keep a player in consideration until he has retired. We will think about age when we are taking a long-term decision but we don't always take long-term decisions. These days we are mostly taking short-term decisions.
"We may not need a player after five years but we can certainly consider him for a tournament that's six months from now. If I can utilise his good form, which can match our team's strategy, then why not?"
Salahuddin meanwhile said the players have hugely benefited from going on these tours, which gives them a taste of top-level cricket.
"A player gets an international flavour when he is playing for the Emerging, high performance or A team," Salahuddin said. "You will know your requirements for the highest level when you are playing in these teams. We have seen a lot of players in these tours, many of whom have done well at the domestic level. But you get the real picture at the international level. The players themselves will figure out how to go about things from these tours."