Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
West Indies a chance to tour Bangladesh in January | West Indies could tour Bangladesh in January 2021 for Tests
West Indies team might visit Bangladesh in January 2021 for a Test series amid the Covid-19 pandemic worries. In an exclusive interaction between Cricket West Indies president Ricky Skerritt and Dhaka-based Maasranga TV, he admitted that the pressures that Covid has brought to world cricket are significant in terms of revenue. Bangladesh is among very few Full Member teams that have not participated in any international cricket since March.
Initially, Bangladesh had proposed for three Test matches, but there are talks to reduce it to two matches. BCB Chief Executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury and Skerritt both have confirmed this to the media.
“I just want to assure you that we will always send the best available team to any tour that we undertake, including Bangladesh. We believe a tour to Bangladesh is always a challenging tour because it is an environment that’s very different from our own conditions. But we have always done well in Bangladesh. Our players enjoy playing against Bangladesh. At the moment we are fairly evenly matched and it is always a good series between West Indies and Bangladesh. We are doing everything we can to participate in tours abroad and at home. The Covid-19 pandemic is making it extremely difficult to implement our plans”, Skerritt said.
Chowdhury also mentioned that CWI is concerned about the prolonged length of the bio-secure bubble in Bangladesh. Hence, they have requested to reduce the series to Test matches. “It is not final yet. The West Indies cricket board has requested us, as staying inside bio-bubble for a long time is tough for players,” Chowdhury had said. “They requested to consider if it is possible to shorten the duration of the series. In that case, one of the options is to reduce one Test match. We are still discussing the issues, nothing is finalised yet.”
West Indies were the first team to tour out of their homeland after the pandemic (vs England) and Bangladesh has so far participated only in a domestic tournament, the President’s Cup.
“We want to be sure that the protocols established in Bangladesh meet the requirement that we have established so far in the various tours we have been on,” Skerritt said. “There are case studies to benchmark from. This is not going to be the first overseas tour. As you know, we did the first overseas tour to England. Certain standards were set, certain learnings were achieved, and I think once Bangladesh can meet those standards, I don’t think there’s going to be any major problem. We just have to verify in our own way that the situation will be safe for all concerned.”
Written by Anjali Jha. Follow Anjali on Twitter today.
