There’s a lot going on in Bangladesh cricket at the moment. First, Chandika Hathurasingha was sacked as the head coach following the India tour, and Shakib Al Hasan will be unavailable for the upcoming two-Test series against South Africa due to off-field controversies. 

Amid all this, the newly-appointed head coach, Phil Simmons, wants to bring the focus on cricket onto the field. 

“That’s the big part of our job over the next few days, to make sure the focus is on the cricket and not on the outside of cricket. We can control how we prepare for Monday. That’s how we are trying to get the team to focus,” Simmons told reporters at his first official press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on October 19 (Saturday).

“The good thing is we have a very important Test match to prepare for. We win the next few Tests, and we are in contention for the (WTC) final. My first port of call is cricket and about getting the squad ready for Monday. The last two days (of training) have been brilliant. We have to try to leave out the confusion that’s around the cricket and concentrate on preparing for Monday,” he said.

Simmons believes his previous experience coaching teams like West Indies, Afghanistan and Ireland will help him guide Bangladesh forward. “All these experiences will help me in the next few days to get me ready for Monday. Afghanistan helped me with the language barrier sometimes. Ireland helped me with developing young players. It all comes in at the end of the day. I have to use all those experiences in this assignment,” he said.

“My philosophy is to work hard in your preparation, and results will come in the match. What I have seen in the last couple of days, these guys work really hard on their game, skills and fitness. I am pretty happy over the last couple of days.”

Simmons, 61, says he is ready to handle the pressure of coaching the Bangladesh side, adding that it was not a hard decision to make when the offer came along.

“The interest comes from seeing the quality of the young players. They handled themselves well against Pakistan. They didn’t do well in the T20Is against India, but they played against the best T20 team in the world, so you have things to take out of there. It all added up to an assignment, which I enjoyed. One, young players to develop. Two, there are Tests and ODIs involved. It wasn’t a hard decision,” Simmons said.

“All international coaching jobs are hot seats. Bangladesh is different. Pakistan is different. For me, it is a case of getting the players to play and enjoy everything and win matches. The seat is not hot. The last two days have been really good.”

Bangladesh have been a tough team to beat at home, and Simmons hopes that is the case again as they look to deny South Africa a chance to win their first Test series in the subcontinent in a decade.

“It is definitely a good opportunity. Bangladesh are usually very strong at home. So it is a very good opportunity for us to win the Test series. South Africa has that [record of not winning in the sub-continent in the last 10 years) hanging over their head but they are a resilient team. They will work hard to change that,” he said.

“It has been about his thoughts on players and the direction he wants to take the team. It was also about what we do before Monday. It is generally about how we go into the first Test match. As we get to know each other, there will be more discussion about ODIs, etc. Now it is about Test cricket, and what we are going to do in these two matches.”

The Bangladesh-South Africa Tests get underway on October 21 (Monday) in Dhaka. The action will then shift to Chattogram for the second Test from October 29 onwards. Both matches will be part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).

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