The post of the Bangladesh national team's head coach, which has been vacant for the last seven months since the resig-

nation of ChandikaHathurusinghalast October, is set to be filled this month by an Englishman named Steve Rhodes who played 11 Tests and nine GDIs in the late '80s and 90s.

Official confirmation of the impending appointment was yet to come from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), but according to sources an unofficial deal is all but completed with the former England wicketkeeper, who is expected to arrive in the capital next Thursday to ink the deal for two-and-a-halfyears.

Since Hathurusingha'sdeparture, the BCB interviewed Richard Pybus, Phil Simmons and also contacted a number of big names like Tom Moody, Mahelajayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Andy Flower, Justin Langer, Geoff Marsh and Paul Farbrace. However, the response

was poor as after the advent of franchise-based cricket, not many are interested to take up the long-term assignment of coachinga national team.

They had also struck a short-term deal with former South Africa opener Gary Kirsten to help in the search, which is finally set to end with the appointment of the 53-year-old Rhodes, who was the director of cricket for Worcestershire but left his post following an internal investigation in November last year. It was reported that he delayed telling the county about the

arrest of all-rounder Alex Hepburn, who was charged with two counts of rape.

"Steve Rhodes is in our shortlist. We will conduct a meeting with him in the same way we did with Richard Pybus and Phil Simmons," BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury told reporters yesterday in Mirpur."We gave the list we had to Kirsten and he has been working on it. It can be said that it is a joint effort. He [Rhodes] is one of the experienced coaches among the ones who are currently available. Basically, we are giving priority to experience. As you know, the next World Cup will be held in England which is also an important factor here. If we can include someone who knows their conditions well then we can gain some extra benefits. ”

Rhodes, who was also part of the England coaching staff during their Test series in Bangladesh in 2016, told ESPNcricinfo: "I can confirm I've had talks with Bangladesh. And I can confirm I'm interested in what I think is a really prestigious role. But nothing is confirmed at this stage and nobody should jump the gun and presume it is."