"Unfair Schedule": Fresh Bangladesh vs ICC Row Erupts After T20 World Cup Saga
Bangladesh's exit from the ongoing U19 World Cup has sparked a fresh controversy, with the country's cricket board now accusing the International Cricket Council (ICC) of unfair scheduling.
Bangladesh's exit from the ongoing U19 World Cup has sparked a fresh controversy, with the country's cricket board now accusing the International Cricket Council (ICC) of unfair scheduling. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has been at loggerheads with the ICC ever since its refusal to send the national team to India for the T20 World Cup. While Bangladesh have been removed and replaced by Scotland for the upcoming tournament, BCB's game development coordinator Habibul Bashar has criticised the global body for 'unfair' scheduling of their U19 World Cup matches.
"More than the approach, I think our calculations were lacking [against England and India]. But this [travel schedule] is something I want to highlight, even if people think I'm making excuses," Habibul told The Daily Star.
Bangladesh were initially scheduled to play two warm-up matches in Masvingo, before moving to Harare for the main draw. However, Bashar revealed that the ICC changed their schedule and the team had to play its practice games at two different venues, separated by a four-hour drive.
"To avoid the boys getting too tired before the India match, the BCB actually paid for an internal flight out of its own pocket because the bus journey was too long and direct flights were scarce," he added.
Bangladesh head coach Naveed Nawaz and several players reportedly expressed frustration over the hectic schedule. They had to travel from Harare to Bulawayo, a nearly nine-hour bus ride during monsoon season, before their opening group fixture.
Considering the importance of the fixtures, the BCB arranged and funded an internal flight for the matches against India and New Zealand.
However, the travel did not stop there, as they had to return to Bulawayo by bus for their match against the USA on January 23, before heading hitting the road again for the Super Six clash against England in Bulawayo on January 26.
"The schedule was very unfair to us. During the initial schedule, we were supposed to play two of our warm-up matches in Masvingo and travel to Bulawayo, which is a four-hour drive, for our opening two group-stage matches. Later, they [ICC] suddenly changed the schedule, and it meant we had to play two of our warm-up games at different venues, travelling back and forth," revealed Bashar.
"We notified them [of the travel burden] before the tournament started. We asked them to move our practice games to avoid the back-and-forth travel, but they didn't listen. Once the tournament starts, you can't really change these things."
Unlike Bangladesh, teams like India, Pakistan, England, and Australia had a far lighter travelling schedule.
Bangladesh U19