‘Cricket can help us heal’
Bangladesh cricketers are returning to action on the field as a way of healing from their near-miss at last week’s Christchurch shootings.
A delayed meeting meant the Bangladesh players were late arriving to the mosque near the third test venue of Hagley Park and they managed to turn back and escape the massacre.
The test against the Black Caps was abandoned and the players returned home. Now they are dealing with their emotions and it seems the cricket field may be an answer for some.
The Dhaka Premier League, Bangladesh’s 50-over tournament, has just started and the players have the looming World Cup to prepare for.
‘‘I look forward to getting back on the field,’’ opening batsman Shadman Islam told Cricbuzz. ‘‘I think cricket can be our biggest healer.’’
Shadman’s father Shahidul works with the development committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board and believes staying home is putting pressure on his son and that playing cricket can help him.
‘‘I asked him to play immediately because it was clearly visible that he is under pressure at home. A lot of our relatives are asking him various questions regarding that incident,’’ Shahidul said. ‘‘He was quite clearly not comfortable with it.’’
Mashrafe bin Mortaza, the Bangladesh limited overs skipper who had left New Zealand before the test series, also believed that was a sensible move after he talked to some of the shocked players.
‘‘The best way for them to get over the trauma is by returning to the cricket field. Because if you lock yourself, then there is hardly any room to get over it,’’ Mashrafe said.
Soumya Sarkar, who was in Christchurch, agreed with Mashrafe and said he would turn out for his Abahani team as quickly as possible.
‘‘All those things keep coming up when I am alone at home. I have decided to play,’’ he said.
Bangladesh superstar Shakib Al Hasan, who missed the New Zealand tour with a finger injury, has been cleared to play in the Indian Premier League. Shakib will play the IPL alongside New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson at the Hyderabad Sunrisers.
Meanwhile, former Black Caps skipper Stephen Fleming, who coaches the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, spoke of his shock and sadness at the shootings in his home town.
Fleming was asked for this thoughts at a press conference as his team start the defence of their IPL title this weekend.
‘‘It’s very sad . . . a lot of thoughts and prayers to everyone affected,’’ the 47-year-old Fleming, who was born in Christchurch and started his first class career with Canterbury, said.
‘‘I was on a flight to Singapore so I got off the plane to the news from my family who were around town at the time.
‘‘We weren’t immediately affected but we have all been affected, in particular being a Cantabrian myself.
‘‘To have this happen in your home town and New Zealand was just very hard to comprehend. So I spent the next two hours in the Singapore lounge watching CNN just trying to comprehend the magnitude of the events, the sorrow and the thoughts of everybody that was immediately affected.’’
Fleming, a respected international figure in the cricketing world, said he was impressed with New Zealand’s reaction.
‘‘I have been extremely proud of the way our prime minister and in particularly the community has rallied around,’’ he said.
‘‘There’s been a lot of behaviours that have gone against what the person who initiated this wanted. And that makes you proud as a New Zealander . . . but you are very sad it happens in your home town.’’
‘‘The best way to get over the trauma is by returning to the cricket field.’’
Mashrafe bin Mortaza