Zimbabwe Cricket has agreed in principle to tour Bangladesh for a two-match Test series this November. Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan informed this to the media yesterday at Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium following the 12th board meeting.
Zimbabwe were originally scheduled to tour Bangladesh in January next year for two Tests, three ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals.
However, following Cricket Australia's decision recently to pull out from the Bangladesh tour on security grounds, the BCB was looking for opportunities to bring forward the series by a few months. Thankfully for the BCB, ZC sounded out a positive response.
“They have principally agreed to come to Bangladesh in November this year for two Tests. The ODI and T20I series will be played in January 2016 as per the old schedule,” said Nazmul.
The BCB chief stated that detailed discussions with ZC will take place in the sidelines of the International Cricket Council meeting, scheduled for tomorrow in Dubai.
According to sources within the board, the itinerary and probable venues for the two Test matches will be discussed between the BCB and ZC.
The BCB is going through uncertain times at the moment owing to CA's decision to postpone the tour. To add to the misery of the BCB, Cricket South Africa followed in the footsteps of CA and also decided a few days back to postpone its women's tour of Bangladesh this month.
When queried if Zimbabwe's visit will be a source of relief for them, Nazmul said, “Not at all. Why should it be that way? We always knew the issues will not sustain for long. I was always confident.
“Our stance is clear. Yes, there was an alert from Australia but only for a limited amount of time. Bangladesh is safe enough for the teams to visit and there should be no concern, given that the highest levels of the country are looking into the matter quite seriously. I have a strong belief that 90 percent of the members in the ICC will support us.”
The BCB supremo added that he will put a lot of emphasis on Bangladesh playing more international matches in the upcoming ICC meeting.
“We have prepared a presentation that indicates the more Bangladesh plays, the performance level gets better. At the same time, we will also emphasise on the importance of letting a team like Bangladesh rise. It (Bangladesh's resurgence) can only help world cricket,” opined Nazmul.
Among other developments, the BCB directors decided to restart the national pacer hunt after an eight-year hiatus.
The meeting also approved the upgradation process of the indoor training facilities. Nazmul explained that plans to upgrade the indoor training facilities is originally the brain-child of national head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
“Following the [2015 ICC] World Cup, he (Chandika) had come to me and said practising at the Brisbane Centre of Excellence had a positive impact on Bangladesh’s performance and that we should also plan to build similar facilities. The board thought the current indoor facilities have already become old and that we should come up better, if possible, than Brisbane,” said Nazmul.
Meanwhile, ticket prices and the players' payment process of the forthcoming third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 were determined in the meeting.
The BCB also approved the domestic calender for the 2015-16 season, the extension and promotion of selectors and development coaches, the anti-corruption and anti-doping code. The papers will be sent to the ICC and will be implemented once approved.
