October 30, 2007	Tuesday	Shawwal 17, 1428

DHAKA, Oct 29: Jamie Siddons, widely regarded as the best Australian batsman never to have played Test cricket, was on Monday named coach of Bangladesh’s national team. Siddons, 43, was due to arrive in Dhaka later on Monday to sign his contract with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), the governing body said in a statement.

“I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted an offer from the BCB to coach the Bangladesh National Team,” Siddons was quoted as saying in the BCB statement.

Siddons, an assistant coach with the Australian team, replaces compatriot Dav Whatmore, who stepped down after the Indian tour of Bangladesh in May.

His appointment was confirmed after fellow contender John Dyson, also of Australia, accepted an offer to coach the West Indies.

Siddons scored 11,587 first-class runs at 44.91 for Victoria and South Australia between 1984 and 2000, but never made it to the Australian Test squad although he played a solitary One-day International in 1988.

Siddons joins fellow Australians Dyson (West Indies), Geoff Lawson (Pakistan), Trevor Bayliss (Sri Lanka) and Tim Nielsen (Australia) who are coaching Test teams.

India is the only Test side still to appoint a permanent coach following another Australian Greg Chappell’s resignation after the World Cup in the Caribbean in March-April.

Siddons’ first international assignment will be Bangladesh’s tour of New Zealand in January for two Tests and three One-day Internationals.

Bangladesh are also due to host South Africa in February.

—AFP