The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Friday revealed that it would not continue with former Sri Lankan batsman Thilan Samaraweera as a batting consultant, as the one-year contract has come to an end, before the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy which was scheduled in England and Wales in June, last month. (Read Here: No Jonty Rhodes As Bangladesh Fielding Coach Ahead of Australia Series).
“We had a contract with him till the Champions Trophy, so now we have parted ways,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
However, the chief executive of BCB Nizamuddin Chowdhury, has confirmed the news to local reporters in Bangladesh, before the former Lankan middle-order batsman was given an extension to work with the team as a consultant for the Mashrafe Bin Mortaza-led Tigers which has qualified for their first-ever semi-final in the Champions Trophy to lose against Virat Kohli-led Men in Blue.
The 40-year-old Colombo-born Samaraweera was appointed as the batting consultant in September 2016, who has further seen the rise of Bangladesh cricket, as Bangladesh jumped to Number six in the ICC ODI rankings, before being replaced by Pakistan after Champions Trophy triumph over arch-rivals India.
Moreover, the BCB management is looking forward to filling in space for a batting consultant as the fresh reports revealed the Tigers board is discussing regarding the other contenders including Mark O’Neill, who had been Australian former first-class cricketer and a coach.
The 58-year-old Sydney-born O’Neill has featured in 76 first-class matches in which he has scored 3,729 runs at an average of 35.17. He has also bagged 36 wickets.
On the other side, BCB is expected to opt for a Physio if Thihan Chandramohan would fail to join the team after missing the BCB’s training camp which was scheduled for July 10, after he met with an accident on the start of this month.
“We have been communicated that he (Thihan Chandramohan) was in an accident so it was impossible for him to join the training camp,” Chowdhury asserted.
The incumbent Chandramohan was appointed as the team Physio when Bangladesh visited Sri Lanka, as his tenure was also extended up to June.
“We will have to look for a new physio only when he informs us whether he is unable to join the team,” Chowdhury maintained.
Interestingly, Samaraweera had formed an alliance with Sri Lankan former opening batsman and colleague Chandika Hathurusingha, who’s working a chief coach for Bangladesh.
Samaraweera had featured in 81 Tests and 53 One-day Internationals for Sri Lanka. He has scored 5,462 runs in 132 innings of a longer format at an average of 48.76.