It was perhaps the best way for Habibul Bashar's men to express their sympathy to their beloved coach who left for Melbourne from London on June 25 to be at his ailing father's bedside.

The cricketers were trying to communicate with Whatmore since he left before the game against England at Manchester, but they were unable to get through.

They only learnt from Bangla-desh Cricket Board's (BCB) cricket committee chairman Mahbub Anam on June 29 that "Whatmore's father had expired and his funeral was held on Friday".

Team manager MA Latif also said that there had been no communication between the team and Whatmore for the last five days.

"I don't have his number in Australia, so I couldn't communicate with him," said Latif while the team was checking out from Falstaff Inn in Canterbury on July 1.

Meanwhile, BCB officials back in Dhaka said they had talked with a dejected Whatmore yesterday over telephone when the coach informed that he needed another two weeks to complete the funeral rites.

"I talked to him today. His father's body has already been cremated and the ashes will be scattered over a river after a week," said Ali Asif Khan, vice-chairman of the cricket operations committee on the BCB.