Daily Times

DHAKA: Former South Africa all-rounder Albie Morkel will join Bangladesh as power-hitting batting coach ahead of their three-match one-day international series against the Proteas, the country’s cricket board said Wednesday. The short-format specialist’s international career ended in 2015 after 50 Twenty20 matches, 58 ODIs and a solitary Test. He will serve as the first Bangladesh power-hitting coach with a view to helping batsmen improve their boundary clearances —a weak link in the current squad’s white-ball matches. Morkel joins fellow South Africans Russell Domingo, the head coach and Allan Donald, the pace bowling coach, on the backroom team. Australian Jamie Siddons is the batting coach.

“We have made this appointment on a short-term basis. Albie was available for a small duration, so we thought a few sessions with him might help our batsmen,” Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nizamuddin Chowdhury said. “Four to five sessions in South Africa may not bring a big change. But we will get to see if it can be really useful,” he added. Morkel has already joined the Bangladesh squad in Johannesburg, Chowdhury said. The three-match ODI series begins on Friday at Centurion. Two Tests will follow in Durban and Port Elizabeth.