The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said that they are still trying to appoint Paul Farbrace as their new head coach, despite having a recent contract offer turned down by England's current No. 2.
According to a source who requested anonymity, Farbrace was close to signing up as Bangladesh's head coach even last week. But after being sent the contract, he chose instead to inform the BCB that he was unable to join the Bangladesh team.
Both the BCB and Farbrace refused to comment on the matter when contacted by ESPNcricinfo.
However, as recently as March 7, the BCB were hopeful that they had their man. President Nazmul Hassan said that they have finalised the head coach, who he described as a "known figure". He said that they expected the coach to join in the first week of April.
"We have finalised our head coach who is expected to join the Bangladesh team by the first week of April," he said. "At the moment I am not going to disclose the name but I can say that he is a well-known figure, not someone unknown like Chandika Hathurusingha."
By March 11, however, Hassan was sounding a different note, suggesting the board were keen to interview more coaching candidates after the Nidahas Trophy.
"We will finalise it after this series," he said. "We have invited them for interviews. We might have two or three aspirants. Hopefully, we will finalise a coach within this month. We expect a new coach will be with us by the first week of next month."
The BCB were attracted by Farbrace's track record when he was head coach of Sri Lanka, particularly the team's success in Bangladesh in 2014. They beat Bangladesh in the Test, ODI and T20 series, the Asia Cup and the World T20 in the space of four months, reports ESPNcricinfo.
Farbrace's subsequent work with England has also not gone unnoticed by the BCB. As assistant coach to Trevor Bayliss, Farbrace has helped to bring about a phenomenal improvement in England's white-ball fortunes, with nine series wins in their last ten bilateral ODI series and a runners-up finish in the 2016 World T20.
The BCB interviewed Richard Pybus and Phil Simmons in December, both of whom have since found new roles with West Indies and Afghanistan respectively. The BCB have also made approaches to other coaches including Andy Flower, Justin Langer, Tom Moody, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara but all have turned them down.
