Russell Domingo named Bangladesh head coach

Bangladesh will have a strong South African presence in their backroom after Russell Domingo was named head coach for a two-year period on Friday. The 44-year-old pipped Mike Hesson and Mickey Arthur in the race to succeed Steve Rhodes, who had taken charge last year and parted ways with the BCB after the team finished eighth at the 2019 World Cup.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan said Domingo's long-term planning and full-time availability played a big part in their decision. Domingo had been the only candidate to have traveled to Dhaka for his interview, impressing Hassan and some of the directors last week.

"Domingo wants to integrate the national team with the A team, High Performance team and Under-19s, so that our strong pipeline becomes useful," Hassan said. "He has showed his commitment. He said that he will be here all the time, and we have been looking for someone just like him. A coach who can be with the player all the time."

The board president further added that Domingo understood the senior team's requirement of winning more in foreign conditions.

"He said that Bangladesh are unstoppable at home but they also have a hard time when they play in places like South Africa, England and Australia. This is the reality, and it was good to find out that he exactly knew what is required here.".

The BCB have already renewed the contracts of batting coach Neil McKenzie and bowling coach Charl Langeveldt, both of whom were part of the support staff under interim coach Khaled Mahmud for the ODI series in Sri Lanka last month.

Both McKenzie and Langeveldt were part of South Africa's support staff during Domingo's tenure as head coach of South Africa from 2013 to 2017. Along with fielding coach Ryan Cook, Domingo will be the fourth South African in Bangladesh's coaching set up. Domingo will take over formally on August 21, ahead of Bangladesh's one-off Test against Afghanistan in Chattogram.

"It is a massive honour to be appointed the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team,"Domingo said in a statement. "I have followed Bangladesh's progress with keen interest and I am extremely excited to assist the team in reaching the goals that they are capable of. I look forward to continuing the ongoing development of current players whilst also looking towards the future and developing some new bright stars from within the talent pool of Bangladesh cricket."