With Shane Jurgensen set to leave as Bangladesh coach after the proposed ODI series against India in June, the BCB is on the look-out for his replacement, board president Nazmul Hassan has said.
“If anyone wants to leave then there is no reason to keep him as he won’t be able to give his 100%,” Hassan said. “Shane [Jurgensen] is staying until the India series and in the meantime, possibly by next week, we will hold a board meeting. We will take a decision on whether we will try to stick with him or look for an alternative. But surely, we are looking for a new coach.”
Hassan had opened the debate by saying he “foresaw many changes” after Bangladesh went down to Hong Kong in the first round and lost all their matches in the Super 10s of the World T20. While he did not specify at the time which areas had been marked for change, he has now said the statement was meant for the team and the management. The BCB chief, however, believes that statements made by a few board directors could have influenced Jurgensen to resign.
“I had said earlier that there will be a major reshuffle after the World T20, and that includes the team management, for the betterment of the team and everyone is aware of it,” Hassan said. “Firstly, the performance of the team was bad, which might have prompted him to resign. On the other hand, he could feel insecure after some comments from our directors. So, he might have felt that it was better for him to leave with some dignity.”
Hassan also said that the BCB had not given any clear message to Jurgensen about the latter’s job being under threat. He did not rule out appointing a Bangladeshi coach, but said that would happen only if the board did not find a foreigner to take the job. After becoming a Test nation, the BCB has employed eight foreign coaches with the last three – Stuart Law, Richard Pybus and Jurgensen – resigning midway through their contract.
“When a tournament ends and the performance of the team is not up to the mark, the coach is usually changed, ” Hassan said. “On most of the occasions, the coach is changed if the team fails while in some cases the coach steps down. But why he [Jurgensen] has stepped down is still not clear as he was not given any message by the board that he might get the sack.
“If necessary we will give the responsibility to a local coach if we fail to find a replacement for Jurgensen. If we can’t hire a foreign coach then we will opt for a local one. But I’m sure the performance of the team won’t get any worse than what we have done recently.”
