Newell, Greatbatch also on Tigers coaches’ shortlist
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has narrowed down the national team head coach’s shortlist to three candidates, and is likely to make their choice very shortly as one of the front-runners arrived here last night. Richard Pybus, the English coach who is based in South Africa, is in the capital for an interview with the BCB directors over the weekend.
Despite repeated attempts to unearth the accurate information regarding Pybus’s arrival, the BCB source could not confirm whether he arrived last night or is to arrive this morning. Apart from Pybus, the BCB will also be speaking to Englishman Mick Newell and former New Zealand batsman Mark Greatbatch, rounding off the three-man list.
Since Pybus is the first to arrive, reaching the capital from Cape Town this morning, he has the best chance among the three, The Daily Star Sport has learned from a well-placed source. Newell’s lack of international exposure and Greatbatch’s past record might work against them while Pybus too hasn’t coached an international side since 2003.
The BCB will sit with Pybus as the first of the candidates and are likely to invite Newell and Greatbatch soon after. This is a slight departure from the last time a coach was appointed, as Stuart Law got the post without an interview.
BCB media committee chairman Jalal Yunus said, “We have made a shortlist of three to four candidates. We will be calling them shortly for interviews and if we like the coach, we will finalise him. We will only decide after that [the interviews].”
Due to Bangladesh’s excellent Asia Cup showing, several big name coaches applied for the role soon after Stuart Law made official his resignation on April 16. It was a different sort of search for the cricket board who were met with an unprecedented number of applicants who were willing to take on the role. It made the job easier as they cast their net far and wide, not particularly high-profile ex-cricketers but also high-profile coaches.
Pybus has had a prolific coaching career, having taken up the line of work in his mid-twenties. He was poached by Pakistan for their 1999 World Cup campaign while at Border, before returning to the South African provincial side. He returned to Pakistan for the 2003 World Cup and later had stints in Titans and Cape Cobras (South Africa) and Middlesex (England). He was with the Cobras until March this year; he was also linked to the South Africa job last year, with the position eventually going to Gary Kirsten.
Newell, the Nottinghamshire director of cricket, also remains in the picture after emerging as the first candidate last week. It was learned that the BCB are still in talks with him.
The interesting pick among the trio is obviously Greatbatch who was an above-average opener for the Kiwis but has had a mixed record when it comes to coaching after retiring in 1998. He had stints at home and at Warwickshire on the English county scene and was also the New Zealand coach when they were mauled 4-0 by Bangladesh in 2010.
-With The Daily Star input
