New Zealand's two-Test tour of Bangladesh, which was scheduled in August-September as part of the ICC World Test Championship, has been postponed for a later date amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said a press release from the BCB on Tuesday.
Cricket has remained suspended since mid-March in Bangladesh, with the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, cricket's headquarters in the country, well within a virus "red zone". Bangladesh crossed the 100,000 mark for total number of coronavirus cases in the country, with over 1,500 deaths attributed to the pandemic so far.
BCB's chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that they considered health and safety of the players when deciding on the postponement.
“In the present COVID-19 pandemic scenario, hosting a full cricket series in August 2020 will be a challenge in terms of preparations and we cannot take chances with the safety and health of players, support staff and related stakeholders,” chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury was quoted as saying in a BCB statement.
“Under these circumstances, the BCB and NZC have felt that the best way forward would be to defer the series. We realise that this will be hugely disappointing for the players and officials of both teams, not to mention the fans of the two nations but I must thank NZC for its understanding and for recognising the rationale behind such a decision.”
This is Bangladesh’s fourth postponement since March, following the second Test against Pakistan in Karachi (April), Ireland and UK tour (May) and Australia's tour of Bangladesh (June). Their tour to Sri Lanka, scheduled for July-August, is still in doubt.
New Zealand have also had several deferrals including pulling out of the Chappell-Hadlee series in March after one match and the T20I series between the two sides. They have also postponed their Europe tour (Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland) and a tour to the West Indies.
Earlier, few cricketers had requested BCB to open personal training facilities at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium but BCB Director and Chairman of Games Development Committee Khaled Mahmud Sujon said it would not be wise right now.
“Mirpur has fallen in the Red-Zone. How can we allow players to train there? There are strict directives from the government also. The situation is not good,” the former captain said.
Mahmud, who is also a member of Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB), said that many players were also not interested to resume play which reflected in their change of stance about resuming the Dhaka Premier League (DPL).
