BD name Englishman Lewis as new batting coach

DHAKA: Bangladesh on Wednesday appointed former English first-class cricketer Jon Lewis as their new batting coach, a statement said.

The 50-year-old Englishman is a replacement for former South Africa batsman Neil McKenzie who stepped down in August following the worldwide virus crisis.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said in the statement that Lewis is expected to reach Dhaka ahead of Bangladesh’s preparation camp for the West Indies series, which starts on January 10.

The former Durham and Essex batsman scored over 10,000 runs over 17 seasons in the English county championship.

The BCB hired former Kiwi batsman Craig McMillan as a batting consultant for an October series in Sri Lanka, but he pulled out for family reasons.

Lewis has been in coaching career since 2007 and gained recent experience of working with England’s ODI side as its batting coach.

He earlier worked with Sri Lanka in 2018-2019 as a batting coach and as Durham head coach between 2013 and 2018.

The West Indies are due to tour Bangladesh for three one-day internationals and two Tests.

It is the first series in the South Asian nation since March, when the pandemic saw global sporting events being cancelled or postponed.

Bangladesh team will then head for New Zealand in the last week of February for three ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals.