Bangladesh pleased with coach hunt

Bangladesh's hunt for a head coach may prove easier this time, with one candidate throwing his hat in the ring and another acknowledging he was considering an offer. This, even before the board has formally advertised the vacancy left by Stuart Law - a sea change from the past, and credited to Bangladesh's recent successes on the field and off it.

Days after Dean Jones, the former Australia batsman tweeted that he'd been contacted by the board and was considering the offer, Dermot Reeve, the former England allrounder, said he was keen to succeed Law when he steps down at the end of June. It is also understood that some of Law's current colleagues on the coaching staff are interested in replacing him.

Reeve, 49, has coached Somerset and Central Districts in New Zealand and has also been bowling coach of the New Zealand Twenty20 side and of Pune Warriors in the IPL. He is currently working as a television commentator and says there hasn't been an offer laid on the table.

"Yes, I would be very interested in the job," Reeve told ESPNcricinfo, "but there have been no offers or formal talks or anything like that. Coaching Bangladesh would be a wonderful opportunity. I honestly believe they will win world cups one day and there is no reason it shouldn't start with the World T20 in Sri Lanka in September.

"There is a huge amount of talent within the Bangladesh set-up. Shakib Al Hasan is ranked the No. 1 allrounder in the world in Tests and ODIs; others can do that if they follow his commitment and acquire his mental toughness. They just need absolute, total belief and some fine tuning to turn them into one of the world's leading sides."

According to the BCB, the candidates will be asked to send in their applications with a forwarding letter to the acting CEO, Nizamuddin Chowdhury, by May 15.

The board's cricket operations committee chairman Enayet Hossain Siraj said that they have only just begun the process so there's no question of a favourite, but he was happy to learn that coaches are interested in the job.

"This is a positive [development] and think it has come about, firstly, through the BPL, where the foreign coaches understood that the working environment in Bangladesh is favourable," Siraj said. "Second, of course, is the Asia Cup performance of the team where the world has learned that success is possible for Bangladesh.

"We have only just started to look for a coach so by the deadline we have provided, we will draw up a shortlist and then process our requirements."

It's a far cry from the BCB's past struggles to find a coach. After Dav Whatmore left the job in 2007, the BCB made Shaun Williams the interim coach and only after Gazi Ashraf Hossain, the former national captain, intervened and traced Jamie Siddons did he take the job. The appointment of Law, too, had its problems as he was keen on having roles in the Twenty20 tournaments apart from holding the Bangladesh job. Other candidates sounded out at the time wanted the option of being able to have a freelance role during the off season.