In the final analysis Bob Woolmer is the complete cricketer. He has played the game at the highest level, coached with distinction both at club and international level and has even authored books on the methodology of coaching. So, it came as no surprise that the International Cricket Council appointed the 56-year-old as their new ICC high performance manager in September 2001. Woolmer was South Africa's mentor for five years starting in 1994. The articulate Kanpur-born Englishman recently came to Dhaka to conduct a five-day course on batting and wicketkeeping at the country's lone sports institute (Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan) or BKSP in Savar. The day before the camp ended, he was kind enough to chat with Lenin Gani of The Daily Star Sport at the Sonargaon Hotel on Monday. The excerpt of the cajole cogitation is as follows:

Daily Star Sports (DSS) : Let's start by talking about your five-day programme. Give us an idea on what you did during the short course?

Bob Woolmer (BW) : It was essentially a batting camp spread over five days. The first three days were devoted to technical involvement at various areas of hitting, grips and discussing new methods and techniques of rhythm and trigger movements. The last two days were used as middle practice, which unfortunately was interrupted by heavy showers on the first day. And because of that we had to seek indoor facilities to do a lot more than technical aspects of batting. During that time the video camera was extensively used to provide analysis. There were also discussions on team building and team ethics.

DSS: Would you have liked the course to be longer?

BW: It's okay. I have devised the programme specifically to run for five days. Usually it was between 5-8 days in each country and my next port of call is Namibia (it was one of the four associate member countries that fall under his new role) next week. This could be an initial starting point and there could be other programmes in the future if the Bangladesh Cricket Board wanted me to come back.

DSS: Of the 33 players that took part, could you give us an assessment based on what you've seen and done with them and what about the wicketkeepers in the camp?

BW: It was not only hard to recognise them by name alone it would be unfair and impractical for me to pass judgment be it on a batsman or a wicketkeeper. My job was to pass on information and leave business of making judgments to the local coaches and the Bangladesh selectors.

DSS: What advice did you have for our local coaches?

BW: In each group of five boys there was a coach with them. And whatever skills the boys learned the coaches also practised and worked with that skill. Hopefully the coaches would take those skills into the future.

DSS: Which technical aspects of Bangladesh's play impressed you during the two Tests against Pakistan? And what were the down sides?

BW: It is impossible for me to give answer based on watching only half an hour's cricket. I have got the chance of seeing Alok Kapali grabbing a hattrick.

DSS: In terms of talent where does Bangladesh's cricket stand today?

BW: There has been an immense improvement from the time Bangladesh came into the Test arena when their structure underneath the Test side was very thin. It is up by 100 per cent. And there are a number of good fast bowlers and spinners as well in the under-19 camp. The job now will be to turn the potential in the under-17s and under-19s into Test quality players.

DSS: Are you still of the opinion that Bangladesh are in the same league as Canada, Namibia and Kenya?

BW: They are probably just moving out of that because they played a couple of Test series since the World Cup in South Africa. And I think they have had a wake up call. Certainly in one-day cricket the associate nations didn't look out of their depth when they played Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. So I think there is a close gap between them than there is between say New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and England. What little I've seen here and the amount of work going into Bangladesh cricket I think they are starting to move away. I say that in trepidation because I'm trying to get others closer as well.

DSS: You are often regarded as the pioneer in the use of modern technology. What led you to introduce it into the sport?

BW: The sport is very technical to the naked eye. To see it clearly would require several repetitions. So once it has been filmed and digitized where you see it frame by frame, it makes life a lot easier. Coaching before and after video is chalk and cheese. In other words the coach has a better view of how to work with a player and research that. In the past we didn't have that facility. So video technology was uppermost in my mind since the early days of TV replays. Today the technology is so advanced that you reduce a day's cricket of six-and-a-half-hours into fifty-five minutes. The coach can be working with the players without having to watch the whole game. Then later he can see it ball by ball. No doubt it's a tremendous aid for coaches but its not the panacea. You still have to get the basics right.

DSS: Would it be fair to say that these days physical fitness is white or black dominated? By that we mean players from the subcontinent seems to be lagging behind those from say Australia, South Africa and may be West Indies even.

BW: Yes, it has taken sometime for players from the subcontinent to realise that not only in their cricket but in other sports like hockey they've got to get stronger and fitter than they are. The diets and training programmes are very much part and parcel of the game. And now there are good people in Asia who are making a difference. It won't be long before they will catch up and you see it in their performances.

DSS: What made you take up coaching?

"I put my teaching background to good use, read books on the topic and became fascinated with the methodology. Then I started teaching kids and later I moved to South Africa and coached primary school children. The big turning point in my life was when I went into something else after finishing my career. But two or three years later I found that I was still missing cricket and wanted to stay in it. It was not only for financial reasons but also because I felt that I had a gift and that is the ability to pass the knowledge of cricket. I wanted to coach cricket properly. So I took more courses and it all happened very suddenly.

DSS: How do you differentiate cricket coaching past and present?

BW: When I was a player the coaches in my era were far more autocratic. They used to scream and shout at you and just fell short of beating you. They were constantly at us. They kept pushing you verbally. To them you were all the same which is not true. Also I think at that time the coaches tended to work with a certain vision like in the way they played. So that has slowly changed. I think the coaches of today don't try to change the players too much.