BCB seals Pybus deal

The wait is over as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officially announced Richard Pybus as the next head coach of the Bangladesh cricket team on Wednesday.
The board had been waiting for long to get confirmation from the 47-year-old Englishman and it came to BCB's acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury yesterday afternoon as he has agreed to a two-year term, much to the relief of BCB officials.
Richard Pybus came to Dhaka on a short visit on May 10 and a day of meetings with the Bangladesh Cricket Board made it all but certain that the Englishman would become the next head coach of the Tigers but things had suddenly received a new twist in light of the new demands made by Pybus.
He came up with some new demands and conditions for which the board would have had to pay more than initially expected. The board then sent a new proposal to which Pybus finally agreed and is now set to take over the job from Australian Stuart Law, who resigned in April due to family commitments.
“We are in a win-win situation,” was the short answer from BCB's acting CEO when asked about the new deal.
The new Bangladesh coach is expected to join the Tigers within a week so that he can spend some time with his charges before leaving for Zimbabwe on June 12 for his first assignment -- a tri-nation T20 tournament.
"Pybus will join us in a few days. We have requested him to come before we go abroad to get acquainted with the players,” said BCB's president AHM Mustafa Kamal after the confirmation of the appointment.
“He took his time, saw what he had to see. You can't fill up a position outright, you need time in between. It cannot be seamless. He was our best option, among all those we have talked to this time. Take a look at their records and his; there is a sharp difference between him and others. I think he has a proven track record, it speaks for itself,” the BCB boss elaborated about the new coach's appointment.
Kamal also informed that they made a reasonable deal with Pybus, who hasn't been in charge of an international side since 2003.
"The deal with Pybus is not unreasonable. It is close to what we had with the other coaches,” said BCB president.
In his instant reaction, Pybus said; “I am delighted at the opportunity of coaching Bangladesh. I am looking forward to getting busy with the boys. We have an active schedule ahead of us and for me the next few months will be about building relationships with the players and the coaching staff and ensuring that the progress made up to the Asia Cup continues."
He will be Bangladesh's third coach in a year as Law had been in the post for only nine months after succeeding another Australian Jamie Siddons last July.
Pybus had turned to cricket coaching in his mid-twenties after injury had halted his playing ambitions. He coached Border in South Africa before taking over the Pakistan team's responsibility twice between 19992001 and 2003. Following a second spell with Border, he went on to coach Middlesex and the Titans before deciding to return to the international fold by accepting terms with Bangladesh.
BCB had earlier got a good response for the position vacated by Law, mainly due to Bangladesh's excellent Asia Cup showing as several big-name coaches applied for the role soon after Law made official his resignation on April 16.
The board was met with an unprecedented number of applicants who were willing to take on the role but considering his stature they decided on Pybus and finally sealed the deal to make sure that the boys get the right man beside them.