BCB mulls roping in Gary Kirsten in support staff

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) are reportedly planning to rope in the services of former South African cricketer Gary Kirsten in their team’s support staff. Kirsten has been a very successful coach in international cricket. It was under his coaching stint that team India had lifted the ICC World Cup 2011. As per the recent reports in ESPNcricinfo, BCB is in talks with Gary Kirsten for a wide-ranging consultancy role.

The BCB Chief, Nazmul Hasan, admitted that the national side has been dented by the exit of their previous coach Chandika Hathurusingha. He noted that the board is taking time in appointing the new head coach since they wish to fill the void with someone who could fit in the team culture of Bangladesh.

“We are on the back foot, that’s for sure. [Chandika] Hathurusingha’s departure has been a blow. You can’t just take any coach, but someone who fits our environment and mentality. Bangladesh has reached a level which requires us to be thoughtful about bringing a quality coach. Not much chance of a trial and error; we cannot change much in our team. We are not in any hurry,” quoted Nazmul Hasan.

Why not the head coach?

While the board is considering roping in Gary Kirsten as the consultant, it is surprising to notice why they are not signing him as the head coach. Citing reasons for the same, Nazmul Hasan remarked that Gary Kirsten has his other commitments in the T20 Leagues. Hence, they cannot allow him to walk away for those leagues whilst he serves as the national head coach. Recently, there have been news about Gary Kirsten being in talks with Royal Challengers Bangalore to be the new head coach in the IPL.

“We were talking to Gary Kirsten for a consultant’s role. He would help us figure out what coach to hire for our national team, high-performance side and the Under-19s. He is booked up to February, in the Big Bash. He is involved with the IPL and Big Bash, which is why he is not interested to be the head coach,” the BCB Chief quoted.

“If we permitted him to work in those leagues, then he may have agreed with us. But we can’t let our head coach go like that, which is what we have decided. He is available in the time outside his other roles. At this point, both sides are interested in the [consultancy] role. He will have an overall role in the development of Bangladesh cricket. It might be for six months, but it is hard to pinpoint these things without talking to him first. He is probably coming after February,” he added further.

Appointing the batting consultant

Speaking further on the same note, the BCB Chief affirmed that the board will announce the name of the new batting consultant soon. He stressed on the fact that the team is very close to naming the candidate. Nazmul, however, refrained from taking any names for the role.

“We are very close to announcing someone as a batting consultant. We wanted someone full-time but the person we’ve chosen is of a higher level. He said we don’t need a full-time batting consultant. He has said he will be here ahead of every series and when there are long breaks,” Hassan said.