Tigers fielding coach first to go

Ryan Cook is the first to go among the coaching staff members of the Bangladesh national team as he is not coming back to Dhaka, said Akram Khan.

Akram, the chairman of cricket operations at the Bangladesh Cricket Board, told the reporters that the fielding coach is not coming to Bangladesh from South Africa as his tenure is over, and BCB is also not interested to extend.

“Cook is not available. We will be appointing someone local in this series (against Pakistan). It will be finalised on 16th November. Cook’s contract is expiring, and we are not renewing the contract. That’s why he is not coming,” Akram told the reporters on Saturday.

Bangladesh dropped several catches throughout the ICC T20 World Cup and the poor fielding cost the Tigers heavily.

Cook got appointed as the fielding coach in July 2018. Initially, his tenure was till the 2019 World Cup and was extended later.

Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza lashed out to Cook in a Facebook post.

“After the 2019 World Cup, all the coaching staff members lost their jobs, except the fielding coach. Why? Have we become the best fielding side in the world?” he wrote on October 26.

The BCB officials have expressed their disgust over present coaching staff members on several occasions, and Cook is the first to go.