Dav, Tigers set for separation

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wants national coach Dav Whatmore to stay at least till next month's home series against India but it seems that the Australian and the Tigers are set to part before that.

Although the BCB says that it will wait on Whatmore's decision, the Sri Lankan-born Australian, who has been at the helm of the Bangladesh cricket team for four years, is likely not to extend his contract for a month.

The BCB, meanwhile, has formed a six-member committee -- named at an executive meeting Wednesday night -- to negotiate the issue.

"There were discussions regarding the coach but no, we haven't made any decision yet," said BCB president M Abdul Aziz at the press conference in Dhaka on Wednesday night.

"We have a six-member committee which will negotiate with the coach on his return from the World Cup. The committee will also decide on the captain and vice-captain since there is no executive meeting before the tour," said the BCB chief.

The current contract of Whatmore expires on April 30 but as his arrival from the West Indies with the national side is not until April 26, the parley will be quite high because of the short timeframe.

He will convey his wishes regarding extension as well as re-negotiations after the West Indies match, it is expected. Sources, however, said that Whatmore has already told the board that he is not interested to stay.

When asked about his recent comments regarding his aspiration to be India's next coach, the president said: "We condemned the remarks but the scale of action was not up to the mark because the World Cup is still on."

After Greg Chappell's resignation as India coach following their failed World Cup campaign, Whatmore said that he was interested in coaching India.
But the board members insisted that it was clearly Whatmore's decision whether he will stay on as the Tigers coach.

BCB has a shortlist of possible new coaches but again, they would wait for Whatmore's assessment.

The six-member committee includes vice-president Shah Nurul Kabir, general secretary Mahbub Anam, joint secretary Rafiqul Islam, cricket operations vice-chairman ASM Faruque, member of disciplinary committee Shamim Kabir and marketing committee vice-chairman Salman Ispahani.

The first order of duty for the six members would be to extend Whatmore's stay till the end of May to see the India series through.

Regarding the captain and the strong view that there might be a split in captaincy for both versions of the game, the BCB general secretary gave a clear signal that Habibul Bashar may not stay on as one-day captain.

"We have no difference of opinions with the media in this regard," was all Mahbub Anam said, making it sure that the position of Bashar as a one-day player is also under the scanner.

India are due to arrive in Dhaka on May 7 to play two Tests and three one-day internationals.