Sri Lankan Samaraweera appointed Bangladesh batting consultant for England series

Former Sri Lanka all-rounder Thilan Samaraweera has been appointed the batting consultant for Bangladesh team ahead of the upcoming series against England.

This was disclosed by BCB President Nazmul Hassan during an interaction with the media after his arrival from Singapore at the Shahjalal International Airport on Friday.

He said depending upon his performance in the upcoming series, a call may be taken regarding his extension.

Samaraweera had made a dramatic Test debut with a century batting at number eight. He went on to become Sri Lanka's dependable middle-order Test batsman.

He played 81 Tests amassing more than 5000 runs at an average of 48.76.

He was known for his great Test temperament and never-say-die attitude.

In the limited-overs format, he represented his team in 53 one-dayers.

When he failed to make the selection against Bangladesh in 2013, Samarweera announced his retirement from international cricket.

Like many other ex-Sri Lanka cricketers he settled down in Australia, where he began his career as a coach.

He was batting consultant at the National Cricket Centre at Brisbane last June.

He had worked with the Australian team ahead of their Sri Lanka tour. He has also coached the "A" team and the Australian Under-19 team.

Bangladesh Head Coach Chandika Hathurusingha may have had a big role behind Samarweera's Bangladesh appointment. The two are known to be close friends.

Samaraweera's appointment, comes two days after it was announced that West Indies great Courtney Walsh will be the Tigers' pace bowling mentor until the 2019 World Cup.

The newly assigned Bangladesh bowling coach will set foot in Dhaka on Saturday night.