Russel Domingo resigned as Bangladesh Cricket coach

Russell Domingo has resigned as the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board about his conclusion on Tuesday.

Cricket Operations Chairman Jalal Yunus affirmed the news on Wednesday morning. He said, 'Yes, he has quit. He also sent us the resignation letter.'

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had an agreement with the South African coach till the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. Anyways, he resigned 11 months before the end of the contract.

After failing to win the test match against India last Sunday, there was a glimpse of Domingo's leave. On that day, Jalal Yunus told the media that they are going to revise the coaching panel. They will select a coach who can make an impact on the team.

BCB president Nazmul Hasan Papon MP said the necessity for a new coach while praising Domingo's performance in a different event the next day.

The South African coach was appointed as the head coach of Bangladesh back in September 2019. He was replaced by Steve Rhodes after the ODI World Cup that year. Domingo obtained many successes in Bangladesh after taking responsibility in place of Rhodes.

Under him, Bangladesh beat Australia and New Zealand in the T20 series at its home venue. Notably, a remarkable Test win on New Zealand soil. The ODI series win in South Africa comes after India lost the ODI series at home a few days ago.

However, Bangladesh did not win a single match in the main event of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. Despite winning the Test in New Zealand at the start of the year, the rest of the test matches saw a shaky performance.

Domingo was dropped from the T20 coaching staff ahead of the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup. Indian coach Sreedharan Sriram was appointed as a twenty-over cricket consultant and sent to Australia for the World Cup along with the national team.

Domingo came to the conference by making harsh remarks in the media at that time. Long before the contract, there was a situation of misunderstanding between him and BCB. But despite all this, he survived. He is seen as the head coach in the India series. After losing against India in the ODI series, there was also the possibility of Domingo surviving another round. However, after the disappointing results in the Test series again, BCB gave the impression of stepping in a different direction with him. Discerning the bitter situation, Domingo announced that he is to depart on his own.

England cricket team to play in Bangladesh after six years

England national cricket team last visited Bangladesh in 2016. The Bangladeshi Tigers won the historic Test against the Three Lions that time. The two-match test series was drawn 1-1. Now, England is back on their tour of Bangladesh after a six-year pause. This time, they will play against the hosts in three ODIs and Twenty20s each but no test series will take place this time.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed the tour on its official website on Tuesday. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has finalized the tour timetable. The two teams will play two versions of white ball cricket. The matches will be held from March 1 to 14 in Dhaka and Chittagong.

England will arrive in Bangladesh in February 2023. The two teams will start the cricket haul with the ODI series. The first two ODI matches will be played at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on March 1 and The final ODI match will be played on March 6 at the Zahoor Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong. The first match of the T20 series will be played at the Chittagong venue in March. The remaining two T20 matches will be played on March 12 and 14 at the Sher-E-Bangla Stadium.

The English won the ODI series 2-1 in their last tour of Bangladesh. They will play two warm-up matches before the beginning of the ODI series. Those matches will take place on February 24 but BCB has not yet finalized the venue.

In a press release, BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury Sujan said, "This series will be a great opportunity for the teams to assess their respective strengths in the year of the World Cup (2023 ODI World Cup in India). The ODI and Twenty20 (series) are expected to be very exciting for fans in Bangladesh and around the world. Bangladesh has an extraordinary record in white balls (in cricket) at home and we all know what a great team England is."

Bangladesh has lost just one of their 14 ODI series at home since November 2014. Which was during the 2016 ODI series against England. The Tigers have won a series against Zimbabwe, Pakistan, India, South Africa, Afghanistan, West Indies, and Sri Lanka. They have played 44 ODIs and won 35 of them.

Schedule of England tour of Bangladesh:
20th February - England cricket team arrives in Dhaka.
24th February - Practice match 1 (Venue is not finalized yet)
26th February - Practice match 2 (Venue is not finalized yet)
1st March - First ODI (SBNCS, Mirpur)
3rd March - Second ODI (SBNCS, Mirpur)
6th March - Third ODI (ZACS, Chittagong)
9th March - First T20I (ZACS, Chittagong)
12th March - Second T20I (SBNCS, Mirpur)
14th March - Third T20I (SBNCS, Mirpur)

Hathurusinghe is leading the race with two others for the new head coach's role of Bangladesh national cricket team

In fact, when Sridharan Sriram was appointed as a technical consultant in the T-20 format, it appeared that time had passed for Russell Domingo. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) sought an alternative.

Russell Domingo himself could guess that. In between, the matter was a bit of a cover-up for a few days. But in the past few days, the coach has been the topic of most talks inside the BCB again.

BCB Senior Director and Chairman of Cricket Operations Jalal Younus told the media that the coaching staff of the national team will be modified after the series against India. BCB President Nazmul Hassan Papan also announced the changes in the coaching staff. All this news must have reached Domingo's ears as well.

Russell Domingo has seen his future in the dark. As it's seen, the Bangladesh Cricket Board doesn't want that darkness anymore. The South African head coach believes it is better to move away from himself.

And thus, Domingo resigned voluntarily. He officially submitted his resignation later to the BCB. Cricket Operations Committee Chairman Jalal Younus has confirmed Domingo's resignation.

The Domingo story is over. Now everyone has the same inquisitive question, who will be the latest head coach of the Tigers? Who will be given the duty?

While Domingo was there, the BCB looked for a potential coach for the future. Several coaches were also confidentially contacted. There is no talking to Kaznar. There are 3 names on that list. One is former Bangladesh coach, Sri-Lankan coach Chandika Hathurusinghe. The other two are Lance Clusner of South Africa and Mike Hussey of Australia.

It is already known and BCB officials have indicated that the board wants to select someone who will have awareness about the Bangladesh national team, and who is also aware of his responsibilities. Qualifications also hold the ability to personalize and manage the team and coach the cricketers along with the management team. Hathurusinghe is ahead of two former world-class cricketers, Australian Mike Hussey and South African Lance Clusner.

Hathurusinghe is authoritative and conscious of responsibility. He also has the ability to control the national team cricketers with a strong hand. So BCB is keen to get Hathurusinghe as head coach again.

He was the head coach of the Bangladesh team before. His ability, cricketing talent, cricketing sense, and coaching style are all known to BCB. Bangladesh's senior cricketers Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Mahmudullah Riyad, along with Litton Das, Mehedy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar, and Taizul Islam, are well known. These are the reasons why BCB is leaning toward him again.

Reliable references say that talks with Hathurusinghe have come a long way. Hathurusinghe also knows his demands to the BCB - salaries, allowances, and related benefits are much higher than before. However, BCB is still interested in him.

The prices are running side by side between the two sides. Very soon a decision or negotiation may be finalized.

Besides athletes, BSPA will also honor sports journalists

Bangladesh Sports Press Association (BSPA), the largest and oldest organization of sports journalists and writers in the country, has completed 60 years with glory. On this special occasion of the 60th anniversary (Diamond Jubilee) on Friday, December 30, 10 sports personalities will be honored for their success at the national and international levels after independence through a colorful ceremony.

10 athletes in seven disciplines were selected by a 9-member judgment panel. Kazi Salahuddin and late Monem Munna in football, Mashrafe bin Mortuza and Shakib Al Hasan in cricket, the late Shah Alam in athletics, Mosharraf Hossain Khan in swimming, Mosharraf Hossain in boxing, Niaz Morshed in chess, Asif Hossain Khan in shooting and Siddiqur Rahman in golf.

At the same time, 10 sports journalists and writers will be awarded Diamond Jubilee Awards in recognition of their special contribution to sports journalism in the country. They are - Abdul Hamid, Tawfiq Aziz Khan, Badi-uz-Zaman, Muhammad Kamruzzaman, Abdul Tauhid, Ataul Haque Mallik, Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, Dilu Khandkar, Shahidul Azam and Mustafa Mamun.

A special honor will be given to the former captain of the national cricket team, ASM Rokibul Hasan, who showed infinite bravery by writing the 'Joy Bangla' slogan on the bat on the eve of the great independence war of 1971. BSPA President Sanat Babla, Vice President Kazi Shahidul Alam, and General Secretary Md. Saman Hossain.