South Africa’s Prince joins Bangladesh as full-time batting coach

Bangladesh on Thursday appointed former South Africa batsman Ashwell Prince as full-time batting consultant until the 2022 Twenty20 World Cup. 

Prince worked with the Bangladesh side in the same role during a series against Zimbabwe in July this year and appeared to have impressed his employer, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

The 44-year old left-hander, capped 119 times by South Africa across all three formats, was not with the Bangladesh team in their recent 4-1 Twenty20 international series win over Australia at home.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with the Bangladesh national team during what was obviously a very successful tour for the team in Zimbabwe,” Prince said.

“The level of cricket played by both Bangladesh and Zimbabwe was of a really high standard.”

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Recalling an event in Zimbabwe, Prince said the team’s success against Australia was not a surprise.

“On the last night of the tour the entire team had assembled around an African bonfire to do a debrief on what was obviously a very satisfying tour of Zimbabwe, but also to plan for the approaching series against Australia,” he said.

“I don’t think the results (against Australia) came as a surprise to anyone in the Bangladesh camp. When I was subsequently offered the chance to join the team on a full-time basis, it was a no-brainer.”

Bangladesh secured their first series win over Australia after winning the opening three matches of the recent series.

In the final match, they dismissed Australia for just 62, their lowest ever T20 total.

Bangladesh will face New Zealand for five Twenty20 internationals in their next series in September ahead of the 2021 Twenty20 World Cup to be played in Oman and the UAE in October and November.