As part of an assessment for the West Indies’ scheduled tour of Bangladesh in January next year, Windies delegates inspected the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) in Mirpur today and the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) yesterday. After the assessment, the delegates mentioned that they were satisfied with the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) arrangements made for the potential tour.
Two different delegates — Akshai Mansingh, director of Cricket West Indies (CWI) and Paul Slowe, the security manager of CWI — arrived in Bangladesh on November 28 in this regard, to inspect the facilities and the steps taken by the Bangladesh Cricket Board regarding bio-secure environment.
“The protocols that were given by the BCB [earlier to the Windies board] were very very well thought out and the fact that they have had three (two) tournaments prior to the series means they are well-practiced.
“We saw both venues of Dhaka and Chattogram and the facilities are excellent and the Covid-19 protocols are very very concise and very tight. The national approach both in the hotels and the hospitals comply with international standards recommended for Covid-19. From a medical point of view, we are very happy and we now have to present our findings to the board of directors for CWI but we are confident that what we saw is as good an arrangement as one could find anywhere in the world,” said Akshai Mansingh, director of CWI after inspection of venues today.
The security manager of the CWI also mentioned the security arrangements were satisfactory.
However, the dates of the series are still not confirmed with the delegates yet to report back to the CWI directors and finalise the quarantine period ahead of the tour.
“That’s why the dates are still up in the air. According to Covid protocols, there will be at least seven days where we have to make sure we are not contaminating Bangladesh. So we have to make sure we are in quarantine. It is not just days, but negative tests as well. There have to be at least one negative tests before coming and three negative tests while in Bangladesh. That period is usually seven days, and that’s why the exact dates have to be worked out now,” added Akshai Mansingh.
The West Indies were originally scheduled to three Tests, three ODIs and two T20s against Bangladesh but the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) may shorten the tour in order to accommodate the Windies for a shorter time duration.