Dale Benkenstein Appointed Bangladesh’s Batting Specialist for South Africa Tour

Former South African all-rounder Dale Benkenstein has been appointed as Bangladesh’s batting specialist for their upcoming all-format tour of South Africa in November and December 2026.

Bangladesh will play two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is during the tour. The opening Test is scheduled to begin in Johannesburg on November 15. The Test series will also be part of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle.

Benkenstein will work under head coach Phil Simmons. His appointment comes after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) reassigned Mohammad Ashraful from the batting coach role.

High Performance coach Mohammad Salahuddin had taken charge on an interim basis before Benkenstein’s appointment.

The 52-year-old brings plenty of playing and coaching experience to the Bangladesh setup. He spent 20 years in professional cricket, making 264 first-class and 300 List A appearances.

During his playing career, Benkenstein scored 15,962 first-class runs and more than 9,000 runs in limited-overs cricket. He also represented South Africa in 23 ODIs, making his international debut against England in 1998.

Benkenstein also enjoyed success as a domestic captain. He captained Natal from the age of 22 and guided the side to four domestic titles across four-day and one-day competitions.

His coaching career includes several roles in English county cricket. He helped Hampshire earn promotion to Division One in 2014 and guided the team to two Vitality Blast Finals Day appearances.

He later coached Gloucestershire in 2022 and 2023 before managing Lancashire until 2025. Benkenstein also served as South Africa’s men’s batting coach between 2017 and 2019.

More recently, he worked as an assistant coach with Pretoria Capitals in the SA20 and as a batting consultant for Durham.

His experience in international and domestic cricket will be valuable as Bangladesh prepare for a challenging tour of South Africa.