Jurgensen released by BCB

Shane Jurgensen has been released with immediate effect from his contract as Bangladesh coach by the BCB. Jurgensen had resigned in late April but it was believed he would stay in the job till the end of the proposed ODI series against India in June, giving the BCB a chance to find a replacement. The board, however, announced on Monday that he will be leaving immediately.

On Monday, Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president, met Jurgensen prior to a board meeting in the afternoon. After their discussion, Jurgensen said in a press briefing that he will stand by his decision to resign, but it will be up to the board to tell him whether they want him to stay on till mid-June or leave immediately. A couple of hours later, the BCB chief confirmed their decision.

"He had written in his resignation letter that he could stay till the India series," Hassan said. "But having discussed the matter with the board, we believe that it is best to release him immediately. Jurgensen also told me during our discussion that he feels that we should release him immediately, which would be good for the team."

Although there were some off-field issues that made him consider his position, Jurgensen said that his decision was cricket-based. He however denied making the resignation based on what some BCB directors said in the media.

"For me what is really important is that this resignation is what is best for the team," Jurgensen said. "I have always been a team person, that's the best outcome for the team. I was asked if I would like to continue till the World Cup I said thank you for the offer but at the moment I don't wish to continue.

"One of many reasons for my decision is that I have a young family, and I have been doing this for six years," he said. "But it is definitely not the main reason. I have taken the decision based on a lot of factors. Those things spoken in the media is not the catalyst [for the resignation]. It is a cricket-based decision. Some things happened off the field which made me realise where I stand as a coach and my immediate future."

Hassan has said that among a handful of prospective coaches who are in discussion with the BCB, two of them have responded positively. But he didn't want to name them as they are apparently busy with their current assignments. The five-member special committee to pick the next coach consists of Mahbubul Anam, Jalal Yunus, Akram Khan, Naimur Rahman and Khaled Mahmud.

"We hope to find a coach by the next month," Hassan said. "We had begun talking to coaches immediately after receiving the resignation letter. We are in touch with 5-6 coaches for our development, national team's head coach and specialist coaches for batting, fielding and bowling. But it is not possible to name them, because they are working somewhere right now.

Hassan however didn't rule out a Bangladeshi coach completely, but he feels that with a World Cup coming up in less than a year's time, this assignment would not be ideal for a local coach.

"If we can't find a coach now, we will use a local coach for the India tour," he said. "The national team have a World Cup coming up so we feel that there isn't anyone among the local coaches who can take up such a massive responsibility. So far we are giving preference to foreign coaches. We will keep it in mind to attach a local coach," he said.

The new coach will be Bangladesh's fourth since 2012: Stuart Law, Richard Pybus and now Jurgensen have all left without fulfilling the period of their contract. Jurgensen had been an interim coach for the West Indies series in 2012, after which he was given a two-year deal from February 2013.

As head coach, Jurgensen oversaw ODI series wins over West Indies and New Zealand at home, as well as a drawn ODI series in Sri Lanka. Bangladesh also drew two Tests each against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and won a Test in 2013 against Zimbabwe.