Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons wants the country's cricket board to take batsman Raqibul Hassan back if he decides to end his sudden retirement.

Raqibul, 22, surprised everybody by announcing his retirement from international cricket yesterday, just two days before the start of the first of two tests against England. "He's obviously an upset kid at the moment, and probably a bit confused," Siddons told reporters.

"He's decided to call it quits for the moment and hopefully in the near future he has a change of heart and everyone accepts him back, which is what I hope happens."

Raqibul was dropped from the one-dayers against England but made his way back into the side for the test series with an unbeaten century and a fifty in a three-day warm-up match against the tourists.

"He didn't like being dropped in the way he was dropped, then missing out on the 30 for the T20 (World Cup) squad, which was probably bad selection, and he's really disappointed," said Siddons.

"He thought he'd proved his point that he was good enough to be in that 30, which I think he is, and then he walked away. "I don't know who he was trying to hurt, or what point he was trying to prove, but I hope the BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board) welcome him back because he's a kid who's a bit confused."

Uncapped batsman Johirul Islam was called up as his replacement for the series, which starts with the first test in Chittagong on Friday.- Reuters