BCB did not accept resignation, says decision spurred by emotion
The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Monday suffered a serious blow as national team’s Australian head coach Shane Jurgensen resigned from his post apparently being upset by certain media speculation about his future. The BCB received an e-mail minutes before it was preparing to hold an emergency meeting, confirming the resignation, which the officials said was an unexpected and emotional decision, lacking any professional reason.
‘We have received an e-mail from Jurgensen today where he stated that he will not continue as coach after the home series against India in June,’ BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus told reporters at a news briefing.
‘He did not give any reason but I can assume he reacted based on some news in the media [regarding his future]. But it was nothing but an speculation.’
Jurgensen joined the Tigers as bowling coach in 2011 before he was given the job of interim head coach in a series against West Indies in 2012 following the resignation of Englishman Richard Pybus.
He became an instant success in the role as Bangladesh claimed the one-day international series 3-2 and gave the Caribbeans a run for their money in the Test series.
He was later made a full-time coach in February with a two-year mandate to build a team for the World Cup 2015.
Things have changed in the recent months after a series of poor performances in the ICC World Twenty20, Asia Cup and bilateral home series against Sri Lanka.
BCB president Nazmul Hasan vowed to bring a change in the team’s coaching set-up without waiting for the World Twenty20 to end and some directors started singing in the same tune, prompting the speculations about his fate.
It took the officials some time to realise that in an era of Twenty20 frenzy it has become increasingly difficult to find a good coach. Most of the BCB policy makers were, therefore, in favour of retaining Jurgensen and some specialised coaches with him.
‘Jurgensen never said he will not stay here,’ said Jalal. ‘There were some speculations outside the board, nothing official. We were thinking maybe we will retain the head coach and will add a specialised batting coach to assist him. That was the plan.’
However, Jurgensen, who is currently on leave in Australia, was not prepared to give the BCB any chance.
His resignation, which came less than a year before the World Cup 2015, was clearly a blow for the BCB.
‘It’s tough to get a good coach all of a sudden,’ admitted BCB spokesman Jalal. ‘We have not accepted his resignation yet. The Board president is currently aboard. Let him come back. Maybe he will talk to the coach.’
BCB’s cricket operations chief Akram Khan also echoed the same words.
‘Shane saw in the media some directors are against retaining him. But there was no official word about it,’ Akram told reporters.
‘These kinds of speculations are nothing new. Whenever the team play badly it happens. We saw it in our playing time as well. But frankly speaking, we did not expect this kind of letter from him,’ he said.
Akram also criticised his BCB colleagues for making such statement.
‘I think the Board directors should not have said these things. The BCB president directly deals with these matters. Since there was no official decision, I think the directors should not have spoken out on this issue,’ he said.
Jurgensen is the third Bangladesh coach in the last three years to send his resignation letter after Stuart Law and Richard Pybus.
His decision came within days of National Academy head coach Richard McInnes and national team’s strength and conditioning coach David Daywer’s resignation.
Both McInnes and Daywer received better job offers in Australia, but Jalal said Jurgensen’s case is different.
‘Coaches come, gain experience and leave, it happens and we got to accept it,’ said Jalal. ‘But it is not the case with Jurgensen. Based on our communication with him we can assume this is an emotional decision, so we will talk to him.’
-With New Age input
