The Bangladesh Cricket Board is set to extend the contracts of national team head coach Phil Simmons and senior assistant coach Muhammad Salahuddin, said the chairman of the cricket operations, Najmul Abedin Fahim, after the 18th meeting of the board at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday.
Simmons was appointed as the head coach after BCB terminated the contract of Chandika Hathurusingha in October last year. Salahuddin was appointed to a new role in November.
鈥榃e are satisfied, and we will contact them formally soon. If they don鈥檛 agree, then we have to look beyond them. But we will try to extend their contracts for a long term, like until the 2027 World Cup,鈥� Fahim told the reporters after the board meeting.
鈥楾heir performances will be reviewed continuously. We鈥檝e already started to plan. We want to set a pathway and plan everything accordingly,鈥� added Fahim.
Meanwhile, another director of BCB, Iftekhar Ahmed, said that the spin bowling coach, Mushtaq Ahmed, agreed to renew the contract with them.
Fahim also mentioned that the board wanted to appoint two fielding coaches within the setup, who will not only work with the national team but also in the lower tier of cricket.
According to Fahim, the board also approved the list of the newly central contracted players. However, he didn鈥檛 reveal the list.
鈥楾he board has approved the list, but there鈥檚 a matter of review. So the list cannot be revealed today,鈥� said Fahim.
It would be interesting to see whether two veterans, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, made the cut into the central contract considering their latest performances.
However, Fahim said that they needed to prove themselves if they wanted to be in the long-term plan.
He said, 鈥榁ery difficult question [whether they will be in the plans]. I think they have to prove themselves. Considering their age and performances, it鈥檚 not my call, actually, but the selectors鈥�, so it wouldn鈥檛 be right for me to comment. But it鈥檚 not going to be very easy.鈥�
BCB is also set to increase the salary and the match fee of the Test cricketers as they want to 鈥榩rotect the interest鈥� for playing the oldest format of the game.
鈥楾he amount of the increment is relatively better for the Test cricketers than others,鈥� said Fahim. 鈥榃e want to protect the interest.鈥�
There were several other outcomes from the meeting as well.
The proposed stadium in Purbachal will now be called National Cricket Ground instead of Sheikh Hasina Stadium.
Habibul Bashar, the former national team captain, has been transferred from the position of head of the women鈥檚 wing to programme coordinator in the game development.
The board also approved the resignation of national selector Hannan Sarkar, who switched his profession to coaching.
