Former West Indies pacer Courtney Walsh has reportedly joined Bangladesh cricket team as a bowling coach.
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Walsh, who is set to arrive in the country in the coming week, replaces Heath Streak, who served as bowling coach for two years until May. Chandika Hathurusinghe has done a wonderful job thus far as head coach so hopefully I can complement his skills and continue the positive progress.
“Obviously the West Indies is my home but the chance to go in a new direction in coaching at the global level with a talented group, was one I couldn’t let that opportunity pass”, he said.
Courtney Andrew Walsh is a former worldwide cricketer (fast bowler) who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches.
Walsh’s bowling partnership with Curtly Ambrose during their playing days remains a legend in the annals of world cricket.
Walsh snared a record 519 wickets from 132 Tests during an illustrious career which spanned West Indies’ dominance of world cricket and their precipitous decline. He was the first bowler to reach 500 Test wickets. He has 227 wickets from 205 ODIs while his county cricket tally speak for itself – 869 wickets from 184 matches in his 14-year course with Gloucestershire.
His autobiography is entitled “Heart of the Lion”. He was also named as one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the year in 1987.
After his retirement from worldwide cricket in 2001, Walsh has taken up various administrative roles with the West Indies Cricket Board and also served as the mentor of the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League.
Even though he had no experience coaching a national team, Bangladesh chose to hand him the bowling coach’s job.
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On his return from Singapore on Friday morning, the BCB president said, “We were in conversation with three people, but our first choice was always Walsh”. He is a role model to millions and his fast bowling knowledge is second to none.
