Full name: Stuart Grant Law
Born: October 18, 1968, Brisbane, Australia.
Teams: Australia, Chennai Superstars, Derbyshire, Essex, Lancashire and Queensland.
Nickname: Lawman; The Judge The most successful captain in Australian domestic cricket
Went past 1,000 runs in every English season from 1999 to 2003
Began his coaching stint with Sri Lanka in 2009
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officially confirmed on Monday that former Australian cricketer Stuart Law will be instated as the next head coach of the Tigers.
BCB’s media committee chairman Jalal Yunus announced at a hurriedly called press conference yesterday that they had appointed the 42-year old Australian, who has played one Test and 54 one-day internationals, as the head coach for the next two years starting from July 1.
Law, who had served as Sri Lanka’s assistant coach under Trevor Bayliss since 2009 and took charge of the team on a temporary basis specifically for the tour of England, will succeed his compatriot Jamie Siddons, whose contract was not renewed after the World Cup.
The official announcement of the appointment of Law as head coach came not before much drama. The board was apparently forced to make the early announcement yesterday after Law himself disclosed it in a leading Bengali daily, Prothom Alo.
It was all but confirmed after board’s executive committee meeting on June 4 that Law was to become the new head coach but the board had been dilly-dallying with the announcement as they waited for a final agreement.
It seemed that the board was embarrassed by Law’s announcement as there was a mutual commitment to jointly make the announcement. Jalal however was diplomatic when asked whether they were upset by the first act of Law.
“There was supposed to be a joint announcement. I can’t say why exactly it happened. It might be because of the time difference. I wouldn’t say we are embarrassed. May be the early announcement came from him because he was excited,” explained Yunus.
“After May 30, it was almost confirmed because he (Law) was quite interested to take the job and as well as he made the commitment. We have some bitter experience in the past that’s why we were waiting for the signing of the agreement. What I can assure you is that he signed the paper,” he added.
Yunus informed that Law will quit the position of Sri Lanka’s interim coach after the five-match ODI series against England and will join the Bangladesh team as soon as possible.
“After July 9, he will go to Sri Lanka to complete all the formalities and after that he will come back to England where he is settled with his family.
“We are expecting him to join the team before the Zimbabwe tour and if it’s not possible than he will join the team directly there. It may not be possible for him to join the team here as you know the Tigers are all set to go to the South Africa on July 18 to play a practice match,” informed Yunus.
Tigers will play a Test and five one-day internationals in their monthlong tour in Zimbabwe.
In response of a question of terms and condition of the agreement, Yunus said that it was a win-win situation.
“There was a win-win situation. There has been no window for IPL or any other T20 tournaments and without board permission he will not be able to do any other job during his two-year tenure.
“The financial package is more or less the same as Jamie Siddons,” said Yunus adding that they will confirm the appointment of the support staff soon after the arrival of the new head coach.
Yunus said that the leadership quality of Law impressed them the most. “Law was far ahead on our shortlist for the new coach. We were on the lookout for someone with passion, drive and international pedigree to lead the Bangladesh team to greater heights and in him we believe we have found a coach who is highly motivated and also committed towards achieving goals. The most important thing which impressed us most is his leadership quality during his playing career.
“He has had a distinguished playing career and his coaching experience with a world class side like Sri Lanka would be very beneficial for the Bangladesh Team. The negotiations took some time but we are delighted to finally have him on board” continued Yunus.
Law said he was relishing the challenge of working with the youthful and talented Tigers squad: “I’m really excited by this opportunity the BCB has presented me with. It’s a great honour. To leave Sri Lanka Cricket is not a decision that was taken lightly. My time with them has been a most enjoyable journey and I’d really like to thank everyone involved there for their support. I have made so many friends there and had some fantastic experiences.
“A new challenge awaits me now in Dhaka, which I believe I’m ready for. To coach a national side, I think is any coach’s goal, so to get the opportunity to work with what I think is a very talented bunch of cricketers, is particularly exciting. I look forward to the times ahead and taking Bangladesh to the next level,” said Law.
Like his predecessor, Law, the fifth foreign coach of the Bangladesh Test team, also promised to improve the ranking of the Tigers from the current ninth position.
-With The Daily Star input
