April 11 Thursday 2002
Bangladesh fire cricket coach Chappell

DHAKA: Bangladesh on Wednesday fired coach Trevor Chappell, saying they were not happy with his performance.

"Chappell was given a letter saying he had been fired on April 7, the day he returned to Dhaka after a 40-day holiday," said a Bangladesh Cricket Board official.

The former Australian all-rounder, who took over as the national coach a year ago, could not stop Bangladesh's poor run in international cricket. Bangladesh have so far lost 10 of their 11 Test matches and salvaged a draw against Zimbabwe in a rain-hit match since their debut against India in November 2000. Their most recent Test series was against Pakistan at home in January, when they lost both Tests inside three days.

Chappell, who was also the director for development of cricket, was told in the letter by the BCB that they were not happy with his stint and were looking for a new coach. "I'm disappointed as I was told earlier that I would be staying on with the team till the World Cup next year," Chappell said.

Chappell, not as famous as his elder brothers Ian and Greg, both former Australia captains, played just three Tests and 20 one-dayers. He is remembered most for bowling an under-arm delivery in the 1980-81 World Series Cup one-day match with New Zealand which rocked the cricket world.

Chappell was the first foreign coach since Bangladesh attained Test status almost two years ago. The BCB have picked former Pakistan seamer Mohsin Kamal and former first-class cricketer Ali Zia as the bowling and batting coach, respectively.