‘Will give us a really good indication of where we stand’ – Bangladesh coach Hemp on Australia tour

Cricknation Update: ‘Will give us a really good indication of where we stand’ – Bangladesh coach Hemp on Australia tour (Photo by Dan Istitene/) The Bangladesh Cricket Board confirmed on September 30, 2026 that David Hemp has been pointed head coach of the Bangladesh women ‘s cricket team on a two-year contract running through to September 2028.

The 55-year-old joins the squad in Brisbane immediately, ahead of a three-match ODI series against Australia. Bangladesh departed for the tour on October 3, 2026. Hemp steps into the position vacated by Sarowar Imran, who had held the women’s head coach role since February 2025.

No official reason has been given by BCB for Imran’s departure. Hemp is no stranger to the Bangladesh women’s team: he served as batting coach when Bangladesh took part in the 2025 ODI World Cup Qualifier held in Pakistan, and he returned to the same city for the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier held in Nepal. “I mean it’s always nice.

I enjoyed my time here and obviously looking forward to this next stint,” he said. He added: “Having worked with the girls previously so I know what to expect and that’s one of the reasons why I’m coming back because I enjoyed the environment,” Hemp said, speaking to Cricbuzz. Hemp’s association with the BCB dates to May 2023, when he joined as head coach of the High Performance programme.

He moved to the men’s setup as batting coach in 2024 and also has international head coaching experience, having led the Pakistan women’s team between 2020 and 2022. What challenge does the Australia tour pose for Hemp’s Bangladesh team? Australia are currently ranked number one in the world in both ODI and T20I women’s cricket, making the three-match series at Allan Border Field in Brisbane a significant early examination for Hemp and his squad.

The matches are scheduled for 9, 11 and 14 October. Hemp acknowledged the scale of the work ahead, but remained positive about the opportunity. “Obviously, the Australia tour is definitely a big challenge because of where Australia are statistically.

They’re the number one side in the world in women’s cricket, both in ODI cricket and T20. And they have individual players that are ranked highly within that, within the ICC system. I think it’s a really good opportunity for us too.

You want to play against the best players because you want testing. It’ll give us a really good indication of where we stand and also what we can pick up and what we can learn and how we can try and evolve ourselves to be able to challenge these teams at the top of the tree,” How does Hemp plan to unite the Bangladesh women’s squad going forward? Bangladesh women’s cricket has been going through a period of turmoil in recent months, with former head coach Sarovar Imran publicly raising concerns over the team’s management.

His comments came amid developments that eventually saw Nigar Sultana step down as T20I ctain. When asked about these developments, Hemp drew on his previous experience with the side to underline his confidence in the squad’s ability. “I don’t know what’s been going on,” and stressed the importance of collective focus instead.

Any team just needs to focus on what we can control and you know the most important thing for us as a group is to really connect and make sure we’re all on the same page, all trying to move forward together. As I say, my experience with the team has only been positive because in the two tournaments I went to (being part of the women’s cricket team), they played really good cricket and felt like they had a good camaraderie and atmosphere. “My point to the players is simply trying to move forward and trying to improve the consistency of how we play because we want to move up the rankings and I feel that where we’re ranked at the moment, I don’t think is really a true reflection of the quality that we have within the squad because I’ve seen them play some really good cricket.

So, that’s the challenge and the most important thing is that everyone is on the same page and everyone is trying to move forward and improve day by day and week by week. That’s all you can ask from a playing group,” he said.