HARARE: Australian Dav Whatmore began his work on Sunday as the new Zimbabwe cricket coach to prepare the African nation for the 2015 World Cup.

Zimbabwe Cricket said on Saturday that the former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach will be in charge of the African side at the tournament, which starts mid-February, after Stephen Mang­ongo was fired on Dec 18.

The 60-year-old former Test batsman, who was also coach of Sri Lanka, Bangla­desh and Pakistan in the past, and Zimbabwe Cricket are hoping to sign a longer-term deal after the World Cup.

Under the deal, Zimbabwe players will also receive coaching from Whatmore’s Dubai-based cricket academy.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has failed to clinch a deal with former captain and coach Dave Houghton as Whatmore’s assistant and team batting coach due to his commitments with English county Middlesex.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2014