Malibongwe Maketa appointed Bangladesh men's assistant coach

The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Friday appointed South African Malibongwe Maketa as assistant coach of the national men’s team. Maketa has been given a contract that will run from October 2026 to November 2028. He will take over for Mohammad Salahuddin, who was recently appointed head of the BCB's High Performance Unit.

Maketa, who is 46 years old, will join the Bangladesh coaching staff in the United Arab Emirates ahead of the one-time Test against Afghanistan and the one-day international tri-series between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. A Cricket South Africa (CSA) Level 4-qualified coach, Maketa brings more than two decades of experience across domestic, international and high-performance cricket in South Africa.

I am pleased to accept the assistant coach position with the Bangladesh national team. Maketa said in a statement, "I am truly grateful for the Bangladesh Cricket Board's trust and confidence in me, and I look forward to contributing positively to the team's success."

“I am looking forward to working with Phil [Simmons] and the rest of the coaching staff to help bring out the best in the players and support their continued development. We have a young and exciting team. Once more, thank you for the opportunity. I can't wait to get started on this journey and help the Bangladesh National Team.

Maketa has held positions as head coach of the Warriors franchise, assistant coach of the South African men's national team, head coach of South Africa A and South Africa U19, and head coach of the National Academy.

From 2017 to 2019, he was the South African national team's assistant coach, including during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England. He also worked as a coach during the Test series victories against Australia and India and the bilateral series victories against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Maketa led South Africa A and South Africa U19 during his time at the National Academy, where he focused on preparing players for international cricket. He has also worked extensively with young players. He has coached at the franchise and provincial levels in all formats.

In addition to previous roles with South Africa A, Maketa was the head coach of South Africa U19 and the National Academy. In 2023 and 2024, he guided South Africa Emerging to the CSA One-Day Cup Division 2 championship and the ICC U19 World Cup semi-finals.