BCB likely to finalize deal with Jonty Rhodes

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon has said that the BCB is likely to complete a deal to bring former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes to Bangladesh for a short tenure as a fielding consultant for the Tigers. The board is still in talks with Rhodes regarding the details of the contract but it is believed that the South African could join the Bangladesh pack for around a month sometime in the future.

Speaking to reporters in Dhaka yesterday, Papon said: “We will focus more on fitness. We are in the process. We already have discussed and almost finalised the decision to bring Jonty Rhodes and people like him. We will need to have a special focus on physical fitness because we have many away tours this year.

“I don’t know if they will all come, but we have contacted them, they have shown interest. We are very serious about the physical fitness aspect,” he added.

When asked as to how Rhodes’ role would be different to that of Richard Halsall, who joined the Bangladesh camp as their fielding coach before getting promoted to the position of assistant coach, he said: “When a player dives, why does he have to get injured? If Jonty Rhodes comes and makes them dive 10 times daily, then maybe the players will get used to it a bit and if they don’t they will keep getting hurt.

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“We will do one more thing. We will devise a process by which we can monitor the players even when they are away from the camp. When there’s a camp, players are serious and physically fit, but when they go back home, they get relaxed,” said Papon.

The Bangladesh cricket team will visit Indian to play a one-off Test match in February. The Test will take place in the city of Hyderabad.