BCB contemplating on changing the venue for Australia game from Fatullah

Australia will embark on a short tour of Bangladesh next month. After months of negotiations between both countries, Australia finally agreed to tour Bangladesh after their security team gave the CA a green flag following a recce. Australia will play an international match in Bangladesh after a gap of seven years.

Lone warm-up game at Fatullah

Before the start of the 2-Test series, the visitors are scheduled to play a 2-day warm up game to get acclimatized to the conditions. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had scheduled this game to be played at the Fatullah Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium. But due to the ongoing monsoon, the entire ground is water logged and it is unlikely that the situation will improve before the Australian team arrives in Bangladesh on August 17.

Though the Fatullah Stadium is an international one, it has hosted just 2 Tests, 10 ODIs, and 4 T20s in the last 11 years. The last international game at this venue came in 2016. Australia has played a Test match at this venue a long time ago in 2006.

Series to kick off in Mirpur

The first Test of the 2 match series is set to begin on August 27 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. This will be the first time Australia will participate in a Test match in Bangladesh after 2006. They have played just 2 Tests in this country when they visited Bangladesh for 2-Test series 11 years ago. The second Test will begin on September 4 in Chittagong.

There is a big cloud over Australia’s participation in this series following the pay dispute between CA and the Australia players. Currently, the cricketers are unemployed as their contracts were not renewed by the Board. But the BCB remains confident of Australia touring their country for this series.

There is still some time left before the scheduled departure for the Steven Smith-led side. Hopefully, relationships between the CA and the players will improve in the next fortnight.