BCB pulls up Donald for criticising Mathews' timed out dismissal

The BCB has sought an explanation from Allan Donald, the Bangladesh team's fast bowling coach, for his comments on Angelo Mathews' timed out dismissal following the World Cup match in Delhi on November 6. In an interview with CricBlog.net, conducted soon after the team returned to their hotel in Delhi, Donald had said "it was disappointing to see" that kind of a dismissal and he found it "really difficult to watch that unfold".

"He could have given his personal views at a later time," a BCB official said. "He is part of the team management so when the team takes a decision, speaking about it publicly is a breach of the code of conduct. He could have spoken about it within the team or he could have spoken directly to the player. He could have informed the BCB, but not in public."

Donald getting pulled up was an expected reaction from the BCB as a member of the Bangladesh team management criticising the team's decision publicly has been generally frowned upon by the board.

But the BCB is unlikely to take any action because this is effectively Donald's last assignment with the Bangladesh team. He has reportedly informed the board that he won't continue once his contract runs out at the end of the World Cup. Donald had been appointed in the role ahead of Bangladesh's tour of South Africa in 2022.

Donald isn't the only coaching staff member whose contract finishes with this tournament. Rangana Herath (spin-bowling coach), Shane McDermott (fielding coach), Nick Lee (head of physical performance) and Shrinivas Chandrasekaran (computer analyst) will also be out of contract. ESPNcricinfo understands that the BCB has issued letters to some of these coaches to continue till at least January 2. But it is not clear how many of them are retaining their current roles.

Bangladesh have two Tests scheduled against New Zealand at home from November 28 to December 10, before heading to New Zealand to play three ODIs and three T20Is from December 17 to 31.

S Sriram, who had joined as a technical consultant only for the World Cup, will also end his stint with the team. He had worked in a similar role with them during the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, who had joined in February, and assistant coach Nic Pothas, who came into the role in April, have time left in their respective contracts.

Before the match against Sri Lanka, Hathurusinghe had said that the seven months he had since being appointed the head coach weren't enough to prepare the team for the World Cup and his work would start after the tournament.