South African Vincent Barnes is set to become the new head coach of the Bangladesh cricket team, the Bangladesh Cricket Board president, AHM Mustafa Kamal, told reporters on Wednesday.
‘We had had several talks with Barnes for the last few days and are at the final stage of our negotiation. Hopefully we will be able to announce his name after our January 4 board meeting,’ Kamal told reporters.
Vincent, a fast bowler in his playing days and former assistant coach of South Africa national side, appeared frontrunner after talks with his fellow contenders failed recently.
Vincent, who never played any international cricket, was also linked to South African job after serving them as assistant coach for nearly seven years.
His tenure with the South Africa team ended after the World Cup and it was widely speculated that he will replace their outgoing head coach Corrie van Zyl.
South Africa are due to name their next coach on June 6 and Vincent was thought to be a candidate for the job.
The BCB officials, however, said he pulled out of the race for the South African job after he received a green signal from Bangladesh, who were in a desperate hunt for a coach.
The BCB was initially interested in Sri Lanka’s Australian coach Stuart Law and former South African coach alongside England A team coach Mick Newell.
But they all demanded huge money which forced the BCB to look into other options. Officials said, Law recently softened his position and agreed to work on a reasonable salary provided the BCB keeps the options open for him to join the IPL or the Australian Twenty20 League Big Bash.
But the BCB rejected his demand outright and looked towards Vincent.
Earlier this week, the BCB president hinted that they were looking for a coach from South Africa or England as the Australians were asking for too much money.
His grudge against the Australians came after his failed talks with Law. The hint for the appointment of Barnes was also clearly there. The only hesitation about Barnes was his background as a bowler as the BCB was looking for a batting-oriented coach.
They have already advertised for a separate bowling coach on the ICC and ACC websites and in local newspapers. But officials said if they finalise the appointment of Barnes, they might not recruit any bowling coach this time. Instead, a fresh advertisement for a batting coach will be floated.
Barnes had been in the national set-up for the past eight years, since the 2003 tour to England, and had also applied for the head coach’s position when Mickey Arthur was appointed in May 2005.
He started off as the bowling coach and has been credited with being a part of the reason behind the success of the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
He also coached the South Africa A team before taking the national role.
Barnes, 51, missed out on a chance to play for the national team as South Africa were banned from international cricket during his playing days for apartheid.
His best performances came in the Howa Bowl, the non-white equivalent to the Currie Cup, where he took 287 wickets at 11.32. By the time the apartheid era ended, he had left his best behind him, though he made a handful of appearances for Western Province after that.
-With New Age input
