Bangladesh Set To Rope In Ex-New Zealand Star As BCB Confirms Neil McKenzie Not Keen To Tour Sri Lanka

With Neil McKenzie’s availability for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka uncertain, Bangladesh Cricket Board are likely to rope in former New Zealand Craig McMillan as their batting consultant.

McKenzie, who was Bangladesh’s Test batting consultant during their series against India in 2019, looks highly unlikely to tour Sri Lanka. Having not played any match since the tour of Pakistan at the start of the year, Bangladesh are set to travel to Sri Lanka nearly one month ahead of the series in order to adapt to the conditions and start their preparations.

The three-match Test series in Sri Lanka will start on October 24 and Bangladesh are expected to leave for Colombo on September 23 or 24. And before the team leaves for Sri Lanka, BCB needs to find a replacement for McKenzie. According to a report in Cricbuzz, the former South Africa batsman is not keen on doing the job for the upcoming tour.

Akram Khan, BCB’s cricket operations chairman, confirmed the development and also stated that they have approached McMillan to take over the role on a “short-term basis”. He also added that they are trying to convince McKenzie to tour Sri Lanka.

“His [McKenzie] chances of going to Sri Lanka are 50-50,” Akram told the news outlet.

“We are trying to convince him [McKenzie] as we want him, but he does not seem to be keen, and if that is the case, we will have to find someone as a replacement, but he will be appointed on a short-term basis. We are talking with a few other candidates and McMillan is one of them, but nothing is finalized at the moment… we are hoping to sort out the matter soon,” he added.

McMillan stepped down as the batting coach of New Zealand after the 2019 World Cup. During his tenure, New Zealand reached the final of 2015 and 2019 World Cup.

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