BCB in talks with MacGill, Ramanayake for coaching roles

Stuart MacGill, the former Australia legspinner, is the Bangladesh Cricket Board's "No. 1 choice" for spin-bowling coach, while Champaka Ramanayake, the former Sri Lanka fast bowler, is in talks with the board for the role of bowling coach at the High Performance Center.

"We are in discussion with Champaka Ramanayake for the HP unit on a long-term contract," Nazmul Hasan, the BCB president said after a board meeting in Dhaka on Sunday. "Our first choice for the spin-bowling coach is Stuart MacGill, initially for three months.

"We had spoken to 10-12 coaches for the spin-bowling role, almost all of whom responded and are interested. We have shortlisted two coaches for bowling coach positions. We haven't had an agreement with either."

The position of spin coach has been left vacant since Ruwan Kalpage's resignation last year. Venkatapathy Raju, the former India spinner, has, however, worked as a consultant. Earlier this year, talks between Sunil Joshi and the BCB didn't materialise.

Mark O'Neill, meanwhile, joined the Bangladesh team as batting consultant on Sunday on a one-month contract. "Mark O'Neill has come for just a month. We are looking at improving our lower-order batsmen, which we struggled with during the Champions Trophy," Hasan said. "We heard he is quite good at working with the bowling machine. We might extend his contract with mutual consent."

Contracts of the national selectors were also extended by a year, although at least one selector may be sent to the junior panel soon.