Last Updated on 6 years by Charbel Coorey

Courtney Walsh’s appointment about a year ago was met with so much excitement and optimism. After all, how could a Bangladesh fan not be excited? This is a man who sits in an exclusive list of bowlers with over 500 Test Wickets, and showed an incredible level of spirit right throughout his career.

Fast forward a year, and it’s hard to see how Courtney Walsh has left a positive mark on Bangladesh bowlers, and this has Bangladesh fans questioning his impact.

This piece will be a comparison of how Bangladesh performed under Heath Streak, versus how they have performed under Courtney Walsh so far. The numbers really speak for themselves.

Behind the numbers are some really worrying signs. Why does Taskin Ahmed all of a sudden look so toothless and struggle to get his pace up? What has happened to Mustafizur Rahman’s ability to swing the ball back into the right hander? What about Rubel Hossain’s reverse swing?

It’s something that really needs to be looked at.

However, before I go into more detail on that, I want to shed light on Bangladesh’s performances with the ball away from the subcontinent since the beginning of the New Zealand tour at the end of 2016.

Bangladesh’s bowling performances in 2016-17 away from the subcontinent

Under Heath Streak, Bangladesh had a bowling attack capable of winning matches.

Heath Streak was appointed in May 2014, during one of Bangladesh’s toughest years. His influence really began to shine through to the team right away, with Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman bursting onto the scene, displaying amazing skill and pace. Both bowlers took 5-wicket hauls on their ODI debuts, and both times it was vs India.

During the ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Bangladesh’s bowling held up quite well in foreign conditions. Then what happened afterward was perhaps the best period in Bangladesh history, winning series v Pakistan, India and South Africa at home. Their seamers had a massive influence in unfriendly conditions for fast bowling.

The team looked far more likely to take wickets back then than they are now.

Also, Bangladesh’s bowlers gave South Africa a tough time in a Test match in Chittagong in 2015. Mustafizur Rahman took 4/37 on debut, and Mohammad Shahid was absolutely superb despite going wicketless.

Bangladesh’s bowlers, especially seamers, have gone backwards under Courtney Walsh. The wickets and confidence levels are down, with the bowlers struggling to produce the pace, movement and threat they were showing under Heath Streak.

The numbers back this up, especially in ODIs:

Even away from the subcontinent, Bangladesh fared much better under Heath Streak than Courtney Walsh, and you need to consider that Bangladesh had no Mustafizur Rahman under Heath Streak’s watch during ODIs away from the subcontinent.

In Tests, the figures are similar. It must be noted though that Bangladesh’s figures were boosted by a home series against Zimbabwe during Heath Streak’s tenure. However, you could say the same about Courtney Walsh’s tenure, as the pitches prepared by Bangladesh in Bangladesh have been a lot more bowler/spinner friendly.

In Tests, it must be remembered that Bangladesh have a very defensive captain in Mushfiqur Rahim. However, it worries me that the likes of Taskin and Mustafizur are struggling for pace and impact. Bowlers who come into the side like Subashis Roy and Kamrul Islam Rabbi are only able to bowl well for short periods. This is improvement Courtney Walsh must ask for in domestic cricket.

In T20Is, all of Bangladesh’s matches under Courtney Walsh were away from home, whereas matches under Heath Streak were mostly at home, so it makes it unfair to compare.

What about the performances of Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain?

It’s clear to see that under Courtney Walsh, their numbers are much worse.

Why hasn’t Courtney Walsh been able to get the best out of the Bangladesh seamers, like Heath Streak was able to?

Was Courtney Walsh too good as a bowler, that the Bangladesh bowlers are unable to buy into what he wants from them?

This is cause for concern for the Bangladesh board, as Walsh is contracted with the Tigers until the 2019 World Cup. There has to be significant improvement, starting with the T20I against South Africa on Sunday 29th October.