Sussex coach Mark Davis frustrated with Mustafizur delay

Sussex head coach Mark Davis has expressed his frustration over the availability of 20-year old Bangladesh bowler Mustafizur Rahman. In spite of committing to playing for Sussex in the ongoing NatWest T20 blast, Bangladesh cricket board officials are seemingly stalling on the 20-year olds’ move to England as reports from Bangladesh suggest that Mustafizur seems to be undergoing a rehab following an ankle injury sustained in the recently concluded IPL season.

South African all-rounder David Wiese was brought in as cover for the left-arm pacer. However, with Wiese being released from his Sussex contract to play in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League leaves the Sharks short of one player. Moreover, Chris Jordan has also left the Sussex Sharks to join up with the England ODI side that will play Sri Lanka in a five-match ODI series. This means that Sussex will enter the match against Gloucestershire short of two seam bowlers.

“We have a couple of people but it is very late in the day so it is very hard to get replacements,” Davis told the Brighton-based Argus. “The top players in the world have been signed, or are playing CPL, or their countries aren’t allowing them to play. That’s the frustration because we have chosen Mustafizur as probably the No. 1 bowler in the world in that format.”

Also, Read – Shane Warne names Mustafizur in his best T20 XI

Earlier, the Bangladesh Physiotherapist had informed the Sussex management that it would take up to two weeks to assess the fitness of Mustafizur. However, as of last week, trainer Mario Villavarayan said he will require another month to recover from his injuries. Mark Davies has now shifted the blame on Bangladesh coach Chandika Haturusingha.

“I spoke to the Bangladesh head coach and he said he would be assessed after two weeks, which is now,” Davis said. “It hasn’t been easy to nail Bangladesh down. Their coach has been the one I have got most direction from. But we are also dealing with physios and trainers who are putting things on the internet. I am sure we will get it nailed down.”