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.

How were Russel Domingo's three years and four months with Bangladesh?

The Russell Domingo chapter is now over. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had already taken a policy decision regarding him in the series against India being the last task. Looking for a way to give the South African coach a dignified exit, Domingo took that opportunity himself by resigning. Last night he sent an e-mail to the cricket management department and informed them that he is no longer the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team.

BCB president Nazmul Hasan expressed satisfaction with Domingo's performance at an event last night. But he hinted at a change by talking about long-term plans for the national cricket team. Although the matter is not clear in the words of the BCB president, according to BCB sources, Domingo is leaving for sure.

In August 2019, Domingo took charge as the head coach of the Bangladesh team. Although the Bangladesh team did not do very well under him in the opening. The Tigers had to lose the test against Afghanistan at home. Bangladesh also lost the T20 series and Test in Pakistan.

However, three significant wins have come under him in test cricket. One of these is against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui. However, Bangladesh lost 17 of the 22 Tests played under the Protea coach. There are 2 draws. He is not very successful in T20 either. Bangladesh has lost 35 out of 59 T20Is and won 23. Where one T20I match did not yield any results.

His biggest success in this edition was winning the T20 series against Australia and New Zealand on home soil. Domingo, however, can claim to be truly successful in 50-over cricket. Bangladesh won 21 out of 30 ODIs during his time. His biggest success was winning the ODI series against South Africa in South Africa this year. Bangladesh also won the ODI series against India in his last assignment as Bangladesh coach. Series wins also came against West Indies and Sri Lanka.

In 2021, there were calls for him to be removed after he failed in the ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Although BCB kept trust in him at that time, things changed later. Before this year's ICC T20 World Cup, India's Sreedharan Shriram was appointed as the T20 consultant for the national cricketing squad. In the meanwhile, Domingo was pushed away from the T20 team by BCB. Earlier, the appointment of former head coach Jamie Siddons as a batting consultant also narrowed down his work.