Shane Jurgensen’s role as Bangladesh’s head coach officially came to an end yesterday after the Bangladesh Cricket Board at a board meeting accepted his resignation with immediate effect.
The decision brings an end to the Australian’s two-and-a-half-year stay with the Tigers. He had first joined the side as a bowling coach back in October 2011 and was promoted to the position of head coach, following the resignation of Richard Pybus in October 2012.
Jurgensen, who submitted his resignation letter last week, had an hour-long meeting with BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon yesterday discussing a wide-range of issues.
Though the Australian did speak about his availability for the three-match India series scheduled for June, but going by the wishes of the coach himself and the directors, the BCB decided to release the Australian immediately.
“I basically tried to understand why he took the decision. There are many small factors but from what I understood is that he has been away for the last six years and he is more interested in a possible offer near his home.
“While the team may not be performing well at the moment, I told him that it was not a big issue, since under him we achieved a number of series wins. In the end, both the parties thought that it would be best for the team that he was released immediately,” said Papon.
Jurgensen, who described his meeting with the BCB chief as ‘very productive’, informed that the president had asked him to reconsider his decision; an offer that he denied.
“I thanked them for the offer but said that I still intend to resign and move on. The best option for now is that I disappear and the boys can move on and prepare for that series,” said Jurgensen.
Jurgensen, who had worked with New Zealand before joining the Tigers, has been on the road for six years and yearns to be with his family, which he termed as one of the ‘smaller reasons’ behind his resignation.
“One of many reasons behind my decision is that I do have a young family and I have been away for a long time. As I said my wife and kids have been absolutely fantastic and supported me.
“But it’s a small reason, definitely not the main. I took this decision on a lot of different factors and definitely nothing to do with what appeared in the media. It was a combination of a number of things,” said Jurgensen.
He further stated that certain off-field events had also influenced his decision. “Some things that happened off the field, those sort of made me realise a couple of things about where I stand and about my immediate future.
“However, I thank the players and the BCB for giving me the opportunity to be a coach of a Full member nation. I wish not to make this departure a horrible process,” said Jurgensen.
In his resignation letter Jurgensen mentioned that he was unhappy regarding reports in the media, which quoted an anonymous BCB director saying that the board was looking for a new coach.
Another off-field issue, as put by Papon, was regarding the scheduling of the domestic tournament.
“He [Jurgensen] was telling me that not everything worked the way he wanted to. Our system is as such. He gave me an example and said that he went for leave and we were supposed to have two four-day matches at that time last year, but then we organised a T20 tournament and he had to come back,” said Papon.
News Source: The Daily Star
