Bangladesh Cricket Board has given its Director of Coaching West Indian Gordon Greenidge the cold shoulder by dropping the former Caribbean Test opener from the Malaysia-bound Commonwealth Games squad. He will be replaced by manager Gazi Ashraf Hossain while former national cricketer and BCB vice-president Tanveer Haider will be the manager. The team will also include a physiotherapist.
BCB's second googly of the day was the announcement of the selection committee at long last. Former national cricketer Enayet Hossain Siraj will chair the committee, replacing Lutfur Rahman Makhan who held the post for two decades. Dr. Asaduzzaman Misha, a member of the preceding five-member committee, and former national pacer Ziaul Islam Masud are the other two members.
The announcements were made by the board president, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, following an emergency meeting of the executive committee held at the Dhaka Stadium last night. Twenty-three members of the 31-man board were present at the meeting.
Talking to a group of reporters, the BCB boss said that the appointment of manager and coach has been made on a temporary basis only for the Malaysia tour.
When asked about Gordon who had been coaching Bangladesh for the past one year and nine months, Saber tactfully avoided the question saying that it was the decision of the board. Replying to another question whether Gordon's axing had any connection with his interview published in The Daily Star last month, Saber said, ``Well, we have developed a communication gap among ourselves and this was also discussed in the meeting. We have decided to talk to both Gordon Greenidge and Gazi Ashraf Hossain when we (the board) meet again on August 21. We will then decide the future.
``I think, things will be all right when we talk to each other face to face. Until then no one from the board, other than the general secretary and myself, will talk to the media,'' added Saber.
When asked why the board decided to make Gazi Ashraf Hossain the coach when he did not have any hands-on club-level experience, Saber said that Ashraf had been the cricket manager of the national team which was more or less similar to the job of a coach.
He also informed that the full squad for the forthcoming 16th Commonwealth Games will be announced on August 11.