Wright appointed Bangladesh U-19 head coach

Former Australia cricketer Damien Wright has been appointed head coach of the Bangladesh U-19 team. The BCB made the appointment ahead of the tri-nation series involving host India and Sri Lanka, scheduled to be held next month. Wright will be in charge of the Bangladesh U-19 side till the end of the 2018 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. Previously, another former Australia cricketer Stuart Law worked as the technical advisor of the team. A Cricket Australia Level 3 coach, Wright is a former pace bowler who played first-class cricket for Tasmania and Victoria and English counties Glamorgan, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Sussex and Worcestershire. After setting foot in Bangladesh for the first time, the 41-year old informed that he is excited to be taking the job and said he is looking forward to inspiring the young Bangladesh cricketers to the next level. “I have been head coach of the [Hobart] Hurricanes for the last four years. It is a big and exciting competition. I have been involved at this level for quite a long time, so I am really keen to get back to working with the kids and seeing how much they love the game. I want them to aspire to be the next best. It is what excited me,” Wright told the media on Tuesday. Since his retirement as a cricketer in 2011, he has been involved with the New Zealand team (bowling coach), Hurricanes (head coach), Cricket Tasmania (senior assistant coach), Cricket Victoria (bowling coach) and Melbourne Stars (assistant coach/bowling coach). Speaking of his goal with the Bangladesh U-19 side, the Australian coach said, “At this stage it is a six to eight-month plan leading up to the U-19 World Cup. I want to make sure they have a good tournament. It is about performing as well as we can in the build up to the World Cup. “You have to adapt to the conditions. We have to do it quickly, which senior players do. We have to make sure that these guys are exposed to those conditions going into the World Cup. We don’t want to arrive in New Zealand where it is little bit colder and the ball moves slower off the seam. We want to make sure we are really prepared. “You can absolutely win in any conditions, it is about being ready and adaptable. I want to make sure our boys are aware of it. The ball will always do a bit off the seam in New Zealand. The ball swings a bit as well. We have to adapt to these little things. We have a group of boys who can do that, and there’s no better time than at a young age.”