'My position was undermined consistently by the BCB'
Richard Pybus is not returning to coach Bangladesh. He told ESPNcricinfo that issues with his contract and interference from administration were among his reasons for quitting

Richard Pybus was the Bangladesh coach for four months • AFP
I won't be continuing as head coach. I've been fulfilling my role in good faith, given that I haven't had a contract for nearly five months. But everybody's patience has limits and my position has been made completely untenable.
The board, in the form of Nizamuddin Chowdhury the chief executive, approached me earlier this year on three occasions to become head coach. I turned them down twice, as I couldn't commit to the amount of time they wanted me to be with the team and in Bangladesh, which was 320 days a year. I explained that I had family responsibilities that stop me from being away for this amount of time. The third time they approached me, I explained again, in detail, what the issues were. I said I could prepare the team in camps, tour with them and be there for all series, but I needed to get home between tours for my family. If they were happy with that, then I could do the job for them. That was when they agreed that I would be able to go home between tours. That is the heart of the matter.
No, their agreement was never made explicit in the contract they presented to me in Dhaka so I refused to sign it. I tried repeatedly to resolve it. I initiated more than six meetings and discussions to make the terms of the contract negotiation transparent and offer solutions but to no avail. That is why I have decided I will not go back.
I felt we could work it out. My conscience is completely clear. I could not sign a contract that is different from the agreement I made when I accepted the job. I got on with the coaching but when details of my contract where leaked to the media and discussed in the public domain, I felt the BCB had made their position clear. They fundamentally undermined the principles of confidentiality and they went back on their word.
After seeking resolution on the contract problem for over three months, I spoke to the [BCB] president again about it after the WT20. I wrote up the meeting in an email to the president, CEO and director of cricket. I gave them solutions to the issues that had not been included in the contract. All of this I of course expected to be confidential.
I asked for the mandate of authority and responsibility to run the national side without interference from board directors and was given that assurance by board president [Mustafa] Kamal. In reality that was never the case. My position was undermined consistently by interference from the board, some of whom were not only obstructive, but seemed to be completely ignorant of cricket.
Definitely, there were a few times I couldn't make any decisions as a coach without getting permission from the cricket operations department. I couldn't even get the board to sign off on providing healthy sandwiches for the players after training. Players were going down with food poisoning during camps, so I wanted to offer them something better than a fried egg sandwich. I was told I couldn't, because that was all the budget could afford.
I've always been driven by winning and excellence as a coach. I knew when I took the job that the team hadn't had a lot of 'winning' success, so the focus was going to be on building on the progress they had made, and focusing on getting excellence in our individual and team preparation. I took the job because I was excited about helping an emerging nation develop. I didn't look at it as a career move. I've been fortunate to have achieved many of my coaching goals, and I really saw it as an opportunity to help Bangladesh to grow in cricket terms.
There is promise, but they have to get their feeder structures right if they want consistent success. Richard McInnes (the National Academy director) and I proposed a streamlining of their player production system, but it was rejected. Cricket Operations refused to work with Richard in running the feeder teams to the national side. They have an exceptional young man in their captain, Mushfiqur Rahim, and genuine international potential in Shakib [Al Hasan], Tamim [Iqbal] and others. There is a core of genuinely passionate administrators, but they seemed to be swamped by politics.
They need to make changes in their corporate governance: it is vital that the operational staff are able to do their work. At present they can't act without seeking permission from board of directors. It's the only way to clear a path for the cricket side to be able to move forward.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent