BCB elated with Australia Tests confirmation

The BCB expressed delight after Cricket Australia confirmed their tour of Bangladesh later this month, bringing an end to the dispute with its players over payment. The BCB's media and communications committee chairman Jalal Younus spoke to the media following CA’s confirmation of the tour going ahead as per schedule. Jalal said the BCB was always confident of CA and its cricketers reaching a solution over their dispute and arrive in Dhaka as per schedule for the two-match Test series. Australia are scheduled to reach Dhaka on August 18. The cricket community in the country was anxious as doubts loomed over Bangladesh’s first Test series against Australia in 11 years.

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Also read: Australia all set to visit Bangladesh

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All the speculation was erased on Thursday morning after news broke out of CA reaching a deal to resolve Australian cricket’s protracted pay dispute. The deal has made the way for the nation’s professional cricketers to be re-contracted and for this month’s scheduled Test tour to Bangladesh to proceed as planned. The in-principle agreement was signed after a final round of face-to-face negotiations between CA CEO James Sutherland and his Australian Cricketers' Association counterpart Alistair Nicholson in Melbourne on Thursday morning, reported an Australia-based news website. Details of the deal and the new five-year Memorandum of Understanding that it underpins are expected be revealed at a formal media announcement, to be held at the MCG.

“We were always confident of the tour going ahead as planned because it was totally their internal issue this time, between the board and the cricketers' association,” Jalal told the media on Thursday.

The last scheduled Australia tour of Bangladesh, in 2016, was called off due to security concern. “We were confident that they will reach a solution. However we (BCB) were always prepared to face all kinds of situations, we were ready to host even if the series got confirmed within a day’s notice,” the BCB director added. Jalal said the BCB is happy with the series going ahead as planned. “It is a very important series for us as we do not get to play Test matches. Bangladesh have a month-long tour of South Africa in September so the Australia series will be a good opportunity,” he explained.

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Also read: Hathurusingha wants to win Australia Test series

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The Aussies will play a two-day warm-up game before taking on host Bangladesh in the two-Test series. The first Test will be played in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from August 27-31 while the second Test in Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium is scheduled to be held from September 4-8. Venue for the two-day warm-up game is however, yet to be decided. The initial plan of having the game in Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium got ruled out due to severe drainage problem. According to Jalal, the BCB is planning to hold the tour game in BKSP.