‘If safe, why not full tour?'
Former president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Saber Hossain Chowdhury raised concerns regarding Bangladesh's proposed tour of Pakistan in a press conference organised at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel yesterday. Saber stated that while the progress of cricket in South Asia is important, nothing should 'take place at the risk of the safety of the players'.
“I don't think we have to be guinea pigs. South Asian cricket is very important for us obviously. But the main thing is the cricketers' safety. Nothing should come above this,†said Chowdhury.
“If we think that Pakistan is safe to tour then we should go all the way for a full series. But one can't be in the middle,†he added.
The BCB is currently in talks with its Pakistani counterparts regarding a possible tour of Pakistan before the beginning of the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 in January next year.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) proposed two matches to take place in Lahore from January 12-13, one of which would be a One-Day International and the other a Twenty20 International.
As per the future tours programme, Bangladesh were supposed to play three ODIs and two Tests in Pakistan in August 2010. That tour however was postponed due to security concerns.
The current proposal is an extension of the two-match tour that the boards had earlier agreed upon in April this year, when the two teams were scheduled to meet on the 29th and 30th. That series was postponed on April 19 after the Dhaka High Court ruled in favour of a four-month ban on the tour.
In March the Internatio-nal Cricket Council had introduced a special dispensation which would allow 'non-neutral match officials' during exceptional cases. The dispensation ensured that bilateral series take place even if the ruling body determined it unsafe to appoint its officials for a series.
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