Nobody has been named yet. The board’s release of 10 and 11 November says Maketa is the assistant coach and stays in that role on the trip, which cancels the earlier reports that handed him the fielding job. Pamment holds the post on paper until the 2027 World Cup, but a back injury has kept him away before, and no official word says who runs the sessions in South Africa. The first Test starts on 15 November in Johannesburg, which leaves little time for an announcement.
The Board’s Release on Maketa
The Bangladesh Cricket Board put out a media release on 10 and 11 November to correct the record. It calls the reports naming Maketa as fielding coach incorrect and says he is the assistant coach, a role he keeps on the trip to South Africa, where the squad plays eight matches. That settles one question and opens another, since the job he was reported to fill is still unaccounted for. The statement is short on detail but firm on the one point it covers: his title has not changed.
Earlier reports had said Maketa would oversee the team’s fielding, and they attached that line to a board official. The release contradicts that account directly and corrects the job title. Maketa was appointed assistant coach on 2 October on a contract that runs to November 2028, replacing Salahuddin. A contract of that length makes him a long-term member of the coaching staff, whatever the fielding arrangement turns out to be on this trip.
Benkenstein’s Role in the Squad
Benkenstein was announced on Monday, 9 November, to advise the batters across the Test, ODI and T20I legs. He is 52 and works as batting consultant at Durham, a post he took in March 2026. Between 2017 and 2019 he was South Africa’s batting coach, so the home conditions are familiar ground to him. His arrival gives the batters a specialist who once worked inside the home dressing room, which covers all three formats of the trip.
His appointment covers the batting side of the staff. No official word has named anyone to run fielding sessions for any of the three formats. With a batting specialist and an assistant coach both confirmed in defined roles, the one function without an announced owner is the one the clarification left open. That gap is easy to overlook while attention stays on batting, but the sessions still need a plan before 15 November.
Bangladesh Fielding Coach for the South Africa Tour
Pamment was appointed in April 2025 on a contract that runs to the 2027 World Cup. A back injury kept him out of both the Pakistan and Australia series, and Ashikuzzaman covered for him during those absences. That history makes his place on the South Africa trip an open question for the staff and for the squad. A cover arrangement existed before, which shows the staff has dealt with his absence once already.
The board has issued no statement on his current status, and the contract through 2027 does not answer the question either. One outlet says he is unavailable, but that claim is unverified. The release on Maketa did not name a replacement either, so the sessions before the first Test have no confirmed leader. Any announcement would have to arrive within days of the squad’s departure.
Fixtures From Johannesburg to Centurion
The first Test runs from 15 to 19 November in Johannesburg, and the second follows in Centurion from 23 to 27 November. The ODIs come next: 1 December in East London, 4 December in Gqeberha and 7 December in Cape Town. Bangladesh play their first match on 15 November, the opening day of the first Test. Only three days separate the end of the second Test from the first ODI.
The T20Is close the trip, with matches on 10 December in Kimberley, 12 December in Benoni and 13 December in Centurion, the last of them at the same ground as the second Test. That makes eight matches across four weeks, each one needing fielding drills and catching practice that somebody has to plan. Until the board names a Bangladesh fielding coach for the South Africa tour, the Johannesburg Test arrives with that job unclear.