Bangladesh Cricket Board has decided to discontinue with national team head coach Steve Rhodes. The board high ups in a meeting in England following Bangladesh’s last game in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 had come to the decision.
BCB media committee chairman Jalal Younus confirmed about the decision on Monday.
“The board has come to a mutual decision with Steve. We have decided to let him go and finish the association on good note. Given Bangladesh has tour of Sri Lanka end of this month, the board will decide the coach in the meeting going to be held between July 20-22,” said Jalal.
BCB’s dissatisfaction over Rhodes’ way of running the team has prevailed for long now. It is understood that a good part of the players in the national team also had their observation about the head coach but was never officially addressed.
Rhodes, despite having a contract with BCB running till ICC World T20 2020, has been in the board’s radar of discontinuation. Rumors were rife of the BCB mulling to let go the former England cricketer along with other national team staffs following Bangladesh’s dreadful performance in the World Cup 2019. The Tigers were expected highly but only to finish number eight in the 10-nation tournament.
The BCB had earlier decided not to extent contracts of national bowling coach Courtney Walsh. Both Walsh and fielding consultant Ryan Cook Cook had a contract with BCB running till ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Bangladesh’s next assignment is the tour of Sri Lanka later this month for a three-match ODI series. The Tigers had returned home on Sunday following a two and half month long tour of United Kingdom and are likely to get back to camp for tour of Sri Lanka on July 17. The three ODIs between Bangladesh and hosts Sri Lanka will be played on July 26, 28 and 30.
Name of Khaled Mahmud is high in the air as the probable coach for the Tigers in the tour of Lanka. At the same time former Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha’s name is also being heard as next full time coach. The Sri Lankan had taken a surprise leave from Bangladesh job in November 2017 following a disastrous tour with Bangladesh to South Africa. Hathurusingha had immediately taken the job as head coach of Sri Lanka national cricket team but has also been shaken recently over below par performance of the side.
