Former Australian leg-spinner declines Bangladesh job 

What's the story?

The Bangladesh cricket team have been without a spin bowling coach ever since the BCB sacked the Sri Lankan, Ruwan Kalpage, after he failed to turn for duty following the terrorist attack in Gulshan last year.

As a result, the board have been seeking a new coach and targeted former Australian leg-spinner, Stuart MacGill. However, the Australian declined the offer due to personal reasons.

BCB’s chief executive officer, Nizamuddin Chowdhury said: "You know that our president (Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan) already cleared it that Stuart MacGill was our first choice as spin bowling coach.

"(But) for some of his personal reasons he cannot join the team at the moment," Nizamuddin told reporters at a press briefing in Dhaka.

In case you didn’t know...

On the 1st of July last year, a group of terrorists took over the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka and killed 20 people in the attack. The incident shook the country and Ruwan Kalpage failed to report to duty ever since.

The details

As Bangladesh take on Australia in a two-Test series, they had hoped to get some inside information about the Australian cricket team by hiring MacGill. The leg-spinner was a wonderful bowler in his days, picking up a mammoth 208 wickets in only 44 Tests, largely thanks to the humungous amount of turn he could generate from the pitch.

The BCB had offered a short-term contract of only three-months to Macgill as they were looking to build on a largely successful year where they made history by winning against England and Sri Lanka in Tests for the first time ever.

What’s next?

Since the Aussie has rejected the offer, BCB are still looking out for a worthy candidate as Nizamuddin insists that the board will now look for alternatives. Meanwhile, the Australian cricket team are set to arrive in the country on Friday and play the first Test against the South Asian nation from August 27.

Author’s take

Had it not been for the legendary Shane Warne and Macgill’s lacklustre fielding, the latter might as well have gone on to become one of the most successful spinners of all time. He turned the ball gigantically and would have been a great teacher for the current batch of Bangladeshi bowlers.

However, what is gone is gone and the Tigers now need to sort out the situation as soon as possible by signing a coach for the spin bowling department that has been shadowed by the pacers of late.