Lingering uneasiness in Tigers' camp

The Tigers have been going through a tenacious fitness camp which they consider will bolster their energy stock for at least the next one year. It is hard but everybody seemed to be enjoying the camp to ensure that there will be no questions regarding their fitness in the coming busy international schedule.  Skill training is also being done and Courtney Walsh was seen doing an extensive session with Mustafizur Rahman, who has been struggling to get back to full rhythm after recovering from shoulder surgery.

But when a team is going through all of this then they have an immediate purpose and the Tigers are putting in all the hard yards with their eyes on their next home assignment against Australia. The question however remains whether Australia will come to play the two-match Test series come next month.

They players have been enjoying their practice and having fun but one cannot avoid the uneasiness regarding the uncertainty of the tour. Generally a player comes to attend to the media almost every day to say something about the upcoming series against Australia and their personal goals from the series. But yesterday, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury was required to say something following the news that the BCB had apparently 'been informed it should be prepared for the possibility of the tour's cancellation'.

Chowdhury however repeated what the board's media committee chairman Jalal Yunus told this newspaper on the previous day.

"There was no talk with Cricket Australia (CA) regarding cancellation of the tour. But we have had communication with them today. An inspection team will come to visit Bangladesh on July 25," informed Chowdhury. "The BCB is taking preparations to host Australia and we are working accordingly. We hope CA is also working same way and what is going on now is simply their internal issue. It would not be wise to comment on it," he concluded.

Meanwhile, Australian Cricketers Association chief Alistair Nicholson has warned the players via email that the showpiece Test series against England, due to begin in Brisbane on November 23, is under threat.

Negotiations over a new MOU between players and Cricket Australia have all but broken down, although Nicholson and CA counterpart James Sutherland are scheduled to meet on Sunday, Fairfax Media said.

“If there is agreement, the next step would be the more intensive MOU and contract drafting period," Nicholson told the players in an email, seen by Fairfax Media. "Given past experience and the massive detail involved, this would take some time and still may not be completed with time enough to meet the needs of fans, sponsors and broadcasters invested in the upcoming tours and the [Australian] summer of cricket."