Few of the wickets at Sylhet International Stadium being similar to England has made Bangladesh national cricket team head coach Chandika Hathurusingha interested to have a short camp before leaving for the Ireland series.
Bangladesh team are scheduled to depart for England on May 1 for a bilateral series against the Irish comprising three one-day internationals.
The games are part of the ODI Super League and will be held in Chelmsford on May 9, 12 and 14 respectively.
“We found some wickets [in Sylhet] that are close to England when we played here [against Ireland in March],” said Hathurusingha to the media Wednesday.
Hathurusingha is in his second stint with the Bangladesh team.
But he got the experience of Sylhet during his tenure with Sri Lanka side on tour of Bangladesh in May last year.
And his recent experience in the picturesque cricket venue of the country was during the home series against Ireland couple of months ago.
“Wicket [in Sylhet] is a big factor and also the temperature is very high in Dhaka at the moment, plus too much of cricket is played on the wickets in Mirpur. I won't get the kind of wickets I am looking for in Mirpur,” said Hathurusingha.
“It is not only that we will prepare for England in Sylhet but it is for overall improvement. There is no worry about the opposition or the result. We want to improve as a team and play well wherever we play. We have a very busy schedule ahead of us and there are a lot of Test cricket to play,” the 54-year old added.
The series for Bangladesh against Ireland is not of importance in terms of points in the Super League.
Bangladesh have already qualified for the World Cup 2023, set to take place in India in October-November.
However, for Ireland a 3-0 series sweep will get them 30 points and direct qualification for the World Cup.
Anything other than a 3-0 whitewash will see Ireland contest the qualifiers in June this year.
