Coach Dav Whatmore infor-med the Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday over telephone that the incident in the Lankan capital did not affect the team's plans as they would play their second warm-up match tomorrow (Friday).

The opponents will be the same Invitational XI who lost the first practice match to the visiting Tigers by 29 runs.

Whatmore also informed that the Bangladesh team was residing far away from the place of the bombing and the players were not feeling insecured.

AFP adds from Colombo, Sri Lanka's cricket authorities expressed confidence on staging next week's Asia Cup tournament despite Wednesday's suicide bomb attack that killed five people inside a high security zone in the capital.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said there were no cancellations for the six-nation tournament from July 16 to August 1 and that authorities were prepared to arrange maximum security for the teams and the fans.

"We have no reason to change our plans," SLC spokesman Ray Illangakoon said. "As far as we are concerned, the tournament will go ahead as scheduled."

Officials said Colombo's first suicide bombing in nearly three years was directed at a Tamil government minister bitterly oppo-sed to the Tamil Tiger rebels, who are waging a drawn-out campaign for a separate state.

Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates will take part in the Asia Cup tournament which involves 13 matches, including nine day-and-night matches.

Matches are to be played in Colombo as well as in Dambulla, a four to five hours drive from the capital.