Simmons to arrive tomorrow to take charge of Tigers

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed today that the new head coach Phil Simmons will arrive in Dhaka tomorrow. 

The board said in a statement that the 61-year-old former West Indies batter Simmons has reached an agreement to work with BCB until the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan next year. 

Faruque Ahmed-led BCB suspended Chandika Hathurusingha on disciplinary grounds. 

Interestingly, the board appointed a new coach although they suspended Hathurusingha for 48 hours and is to be "terminated immediately" after that period, and the Sri Lankan coach has also been served a show-cause notice.

Hathurusingha's stint as head coach of Bangladesh lasted from January 2023 to the present. This was Hathurusingha's second term as Bangladesh's head coach, having previously coached the side from 2014-2017.

While the Tigers failed to light up the recent ICC events [Men's ODI and T20 World Cups], they had found success in the form of a historic 2-0 Test series win against Pakistan.

However, this was followed by an underwhelming outing in India, where they were whitewashed in both the Test (2-0) and T20I (3-0) outings.

Bangladesh's next assignment, in the WTC, begins on October 21 against South Africa in Mirpur. The South Africa cricket team will touch down in Dhaka also tomorrow to play two-match Test series against Bangladesh.

PHOTO: Cricket South Africa

Bangladesh are seventh on the WTC standings with a point percentage of 34.38.

"I have had the opportunity to speak to Phil Summons and have listened to his cricket philosophy and ideas. His extensive coaching experience, vision and proven track record of success make him an ideal choice for this role," said BCB president. 

Having represented the West Indies in 26 Tests and 143 ODIs, between 1987 and 1999, Simmons began his international coaching career with Zimbabwe in 2004 before going on to coach Ireland from 2007 to 2015. 

He was appointed West Indies head coach twice and was in charge when the team became ICC World T20 champions in 2016. Simmons also coached Afghanistan from 2018 to 2019.

Most recently, the Trinidadian has worked with teams in various franchisee leagues, including the Caribbean Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Major League Cricket in the USA, and the GT20 in Canada.