Ashwell Prince Resigns as Bangladesh Batting Coach

Former South African cricketer Ashwell Prince has resigned as Bangladesh’s batting coach, the country’s cricket board said on Wednesday. The 44-year-old joined Bangladesh for the Zimbabwe series last year but was later extended to the T20 World Cup in Australia this year. As a result, he will not be touring Bangladesh for the next South Africa trip. “He (Ashwell) has resigned, and we have received his resignation letter,” BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury was reported by Cricbuzz as saying.

Prince, who has 66 Tests and 52 ODIs for South Africa, is the second member of Bangladesh’s coaching staff to resign, following Ottis Gibson, who also chosen not to extend his contract.

“BCB’s choice to use their recently hired batting consultant Jamie Siddons in the national set-up played a factor in his decision,” according to the newspaper. Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s star all-rounder, is also slated to miss the two-Test series scheduled for March-April, although he will play in the three-ODI series preceding the five-day event.

“Shakib will likely play the ODIs against South Africa, and while he did not specify his availability for the Test series, he assured us that he will be available for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka,” said BCB cricket operation chairman Jalal Yunus.

The ODI series will begin on March 18.