By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
IANS
Chittagong : Richard Mcinnes, the Australian who guided Bangladesh to the under-19 World Cup plate title in 2004, is all set to replace Dave Whatmore as Bangladesh's national cricket coach.
"His name would be announced by June 2," a top Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official said Friday.
"A final decision on the coach is just days away, but we have zeroed in on Richard Mcinnes. The talks with him are in a very advanced stage. Only an official announcement is to be made," a senior BCB executive committee member told IANS on condition of anonymity.
Mcinnes, also a former senior coach at Australia's Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, was the junior Bangladesh coach when the team defeated Australia to win the Plate title at the World Cup held in Bangladesh.
Whatmore is to leave Bangladesh after his four-year tenure that ends May 29 with the ongoing two-match Test series against India.
"We talked to 10 coaches from different countries, except England, but we have decided that Mcinnes would be best suited to our requirements. The BCB appointments committee, formed recently, will make an announcement by June 2," the BCB official said.
He added that senior players of the Bangladesh team were consulted and they were happy that Mcinnes would be returning to the country.
"We have consulted the players and they have given their consent on Mcinnes. In fact, most of the senior players are his products as they were in the junior national team when he was junior coach here in 2003 and 2004," he said.
"Sakibul Hasan, who made his Test debut against India here Friday, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain and Mashrafe Mortaza have all been groomed by Mcinnes," he pointed out.
The BCB official said that Mcinnes' salary would be less than that of Whatmore, who was getting between $120,000 and $130,000 per year.
"He would most probably get less than Whatmore, but he would also get accommodation and a car like Whatmore."
Talking about the plus points of Mcinnes as coach, the BCB official said that he is essentially a hard working coach.
"We don't want a lap-top coach in Bangladesh. We need a hard working coach who can make the players work hard. And Mcinnes is an extremely hard working coach," he said.
"He can communicate well with the boys considering his previous association with the players. That is another plus in his favour."
Meanwhile, Whatmore has expressed his interest in the Indian job following the departure of national coach Greg Chappell, who left after the completion of his two-year tenure in April after a forgettable World Cup.