From Ball Boy to Batting Coach: Ashrafuls 25-Year Bond with Phil Simmons

Mohammad Ashraful is beginning a new chapter in his career as Bangladesh’s batting coach. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has appointed him for the upcoming two-match Test series against Ireland. But behind this new responsibility lies an old story — one that began nearly 25 years ago, when Ashraful was a teenage ball boy and Phil Simmons was a star batter for the West Indies.

In 1998, Bangladesh hosted the Wills Cup, featuring South Africa, West Indies, India, and Bangladesh. Phil Simmons was part of the West Indies squad, while a young Ashraful served as a local ball boy. To this day, he vividly remembers a small but unforgettable moment from that tournament.

“My first introduction to him was in 1998,” Ashraful recalled. “I was a ball boy then. West Indies were the runners-up, and South Africa became champions. During a net session, I bowled to Simmons — my second ball was a googly, and he couldn’t pick it. The West Indies leg-spinner Royal Lewis was there, and he immediately told Simmons to face me for half an hour every day after matches so he could learn the googly from me.”

That small experience from his teenage years now feels like a symbolic story. The boy who once fetched balls on the boundary line is now the national team’s batting coach — and the man who held the bat back then is now Bangladesh’s head coach. Their relationship, born a quarter-century ago, has come full circle, now united in a shared mission as coach and colleague.

Ashraful said, “Those who know me know that I’ve always had good relationships with everyone. I follow the game very closely, and my first connection with Simmons was back in 1998. Later, when I played for the national team and he was coaching West Indies, our bond naturally grew stronger.”