CRICKET POLL

Bangladesh have hired Shaun Tait as their national pace bowling coach. The 42-year-old Australian will be part of the Bangladesh set-up until November 2027. Tait has previously served as the bowling coach of Pakistan, West Indies and Afghanistan during his coaching career.

Tait was part of the 2007 Australian World Cup winning squad and has represented his country 59 times across all formats with 95 international wickets to his name.

Tait felt that the Bangladesh cricket team is currently on the ascendancy and was excited to work with the new talent of fast bowlers coming through from Bangladesh ranks. He also felt the opportunity to work with Phil Simmons was a lucrative offer, he couldn't reject.

"It's a good time to be involved with the Bangladesh cricket team right now, a bit of a new era if you like. It's been spoken about many times recently-the young talent with the fast bowlers-which is great. This is international cricket, not a development team, and everyone expects the talent to bring results, which is very much my focus with the fast bowling group and most importantly, getting more wins for the team.

"To have the opportunity to work with Phil Simmons is equally as exciting and I'm looking forward to the journey ahead, Tait said."

The addition of Shaun Tait in the coaching staff led to the departure of the previous pace bowling coach Andre Adams, who had joined Bangladesh in March 2024. He was part of Bangladesh's disappointing campaigns in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year.