Australia Test captain Tim Paine said chances of their upcoming Bangladesh tour, set to take place in June, are less owing to the coronavirus pandemic, reports cricket.com.au.
According to the fixture, the Aussies are scheduled to play two Test matches, along with a four-day practice game, in Bangladesh as part of the World Test Championship.
The first Test will be held in Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium from June 11-15 while the second will be played in Dhaka’s Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium from June 19-23.
The date and venue for the four-dayer have not been decided yet.
"You don't have to be Einstein to realize (the Bangladesh tour) is probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June. Whether it's cancelled or pushed back, we're not quite sure at the moment," said Paine to the media via teleconference Tuesday.
International cricket, like most other sports, has been shut down while the world battles the novel coronavirus, also known as Covid-19.
#Coronavirus: #BCB postpones all #cricket until further notice https://t.co/JC1emqeU3q
— DhakaTribune (@DhakaTribune) March 19, 2020
With other tours are also on hold, it has been suggested that the International Cricket Council might need to push back the conclusion of the inaugural edition of the WTC.
The ICC's board met via teleconference last week but is yet to make any firm decisions on changes to the international cricket calendar.
Paine hoped it would not be pushed back too far and said he thought players would favor playing catch-up to finish it as planned with a final between the top two teams at Lord's on June 10, 2021, reports Reuters.
"Maybe the players are going to have to go through a period where we play quite a bit of cricket if we want to complete the Test championship as it is," said the 35-year old wicketkeeper-batsman.
"I think the players are certainly enjoying that points system and the fact that every Test match counts for something...I think all players would be in favor of trying to finish that any way we can."
Australia are currently in second position in the WTC points table, with 296 points in 10 matches, while India led the standing with 360 points in nine games.
#BCB ready to provide #SBNS for quarantine facility https://t.co/c8OOBWfkgW
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) March 29, 2020
Bangladesh have played three Tests so far in the WTC, and lost all three.
Two were against India away in November last year and one against Pakistan away in February this year.
The second Test of the Pakistan series was supposed to be played earlier in March this year but later postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic.
Australia last visited Bangladesh in August-September 2017 for a two-Test series, which was drawn 1-1.
Bangladesh clinched a famous victory against the strong Australian side in the Dhaka Test before the Aussies bounced back in the Chittagong Test in a thrilling encounter, and leveled the series.
As per official figures, Bangladesh government has so far reported five deaths and 51 infections from Covid-19.
As of Tuesday, Australia has 4,557 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 19 deaths thus far.
