Bangladesh Cricket Thread

Harmer first on BCB’s list
The Australian to be interviewed on August 29

The Bangladesh Cricket Board will resume the process of appointing the coach for the national team coach with Australian John Harmer first in line to make a presentation before officials on Wednesday.

Harmer, one of the three short-listed candidates for the post, which fell vacant in June following Dave Whatmore’s departure, is expected to arrive in Dhaka on the same day, said sources within the BCB.

The other two short-listed candidates – Australian Jamie Siddons and Zimbabwean Dave Houghton, will also be interviewed by September, said BCB officials. Former Zimbabwe captain and coach Houghton could be second person to be interviewed after Harmer, added officials.

However, a final decision in this regard is unlikely before the end of next month as the third candidate Siddons, who as of now is the first choice of the BCB officials, will not be available for the interview before the end of ICC Twenty20 World Cup.

Siddons, will be accompanying the Australian team, of which he is an assistant coach, in South Africa during the Twenty20 World Cup, which runs from September 11-24.

‘Australians are the firm favourite to win the tournament; naturally they expect to play in the final on September 24 in New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. In that case we cannot interview him before the end of month. It may even go in October,’ said a BCB official asking not to be named.

The interim Board officials, who took over barely a month ago, managed to get in touch with Siddons only a few days ago after Mahbub Anam, the general secretary of the committee that government dissolved last month, extended his cooperation, sources said.

The new BCB officials had earlier put the search for a coach on hold as they had no contact details of the short-listed candidates. ‘Now we have a detailed profile of all three candidates,’ said an official.

The 65-year-old Harmer, first coach to be interviewed, has been working at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Brisbane since 2003, according to BCB officials. Previously he was at the helm of the Australia and England women’s cricket teams.

Harmer led the Australia women’s cricket team to three World Cup finals in his eight years in charge of the squad from 1992-2000, winning the 1997 World Cup in India.

An Australian Level III coaching certificate holder, Harmer, has authored a number research works on cricket coaching and biomechanics, according to Cricinfo in his profile.

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Bangladesh shaping up well for Twenty20

Bangladesh have warned opponents not to underestimate them during the forthcoming Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa, lest they suffer the fate of India and South Africa, whom they surprisingly beat in the World Cup earlier this year.

Bangladesh finished their preparations for the tournament with a number of practice matches in Mirpur and Mohammad Ashraful, the young captain, is happy with the way his team is shaping up.

"Very few people gave us the chance when we played in the World Cup but we beat both India and South Africa. As the game becomes shorter, I think we have a good chance of doing well and progressing into the second round," he said. I am quite satisfied with our preparations and hopeful about doing well in the competition."

Bangladesh are in a tough Group A, with hosts South Africa and West Indies for company. Before the tournament begins, they will play in a four-nation tournament in Nairobi with Pakistan, Uganda and Kenya. Shaun Williams, acting coach since Dav Whatmore left in May, believes the warm-up series could make a difference.

"In the main event, I think we have to score at least 160-170 runs to give ourselves any realistic chance of winning. The encouraging fact is that we will have another four to five matches in Kenya before the main competition and that will definitely help us. I am hopeful about putting up a good performance in this World Cup," said Williams.

"Our performance in the first few [practice] matches was not good enough. We were struggling to get 140 but finally our batting clicked in the last practice game. I am pleased because the boys displayed a strong performance as both teams scored 190 runs," he added.

Mashrafe Mortaza, vice-captain and leading fast bowler, also sounded bullish a day before Bangladesh's departure for Nairobi, urging his side to play their natural game. "South African condition will be totally different than in the West Indies but I think that will hardly matter in this type of cricket. We have the ability to beat any team and we just need to play our natural cricket".

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