Change in Bangladesh Cricket Fitness System Under Nathan Kelly’s Leadership

For a long time, Bangladeshi cricketers were known for their fitness tests through the beep test and Yo-Yo test, which involved running with breaks. However, since taking charge about a year and a half ago, the national team’s new fitness coach Nathan Kelly has changed that approach. Now players must take a ‘time trial’ test, where they run 1600 meters continuously on an athletic turf without any breaks.

In a recent test held in Mirpur, pacer Nahid Rana topped the list by completing the run in 5 minutes 31 seconds. The fitness standards for national players are divided into three categories — ‘Elite,’ ‘Competent’ (or ‘Satisfactory’), and ‘Limited.’ On this day, Nahid was the only player in the Elite category, while most others fell into the Satisfactory range.

When asked why the new fitness test was adopted, Nathan Kelly explained, “The time trial test is simple and accurate. It doesn’t require any special equipment — players just run on the athletic turf. It is also easy to apply for domestic cricketers.”

He added, “In the Yo-Yo and beep tests, even if players lag slightly, it’s hard to decide when to stop the test. But the time trial results are clear because the clock doesn’t lie.”

However, Kelly cautioned against seeing the fitness test results as the ultimate judgment, saying, “Our main goal is to understand each player’s fitness strengths and weaknesses. For example, someone might not perform well in the time trial but could be strong in gym strength work. Based on that, special plans are made for them.”

Coach Nathan Kelly and the national team’s support staff hope that the time trial test will provide a new direction for improving fitness standards in Bangladesh cricket.