The England cricket team will not participate in any practice matches before the start of their ODI series in Bangladesh, according to Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s chief executive. The team was originally scheduled to play two practice games on February 24 and 26 before the start of the three-match ODI series, which begins on March 1st. All the matches will be held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. After the ODI series, the team will travel to Chattogram for the two T20Is on March 9th and 12th.
In a statement to reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Nizamuddin said, "England informed that they are planning to restrict their tour with official matches and we are planning accordingly."
There has also been disappointment that the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium will not be hosting international matches again, despite a positive response from cricket fans during the Bangladesh Premier League. Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel, who represents Sylhet Division in the BCB, expressed his disappointment that the stadium did not get the chance to host international teams.
Nizamuddin supported Nadel and added that they were considering the option of holding a practice game in the stadium involving England. He also confirmed that the stadium would host matches for the Ireland tour of Bangladesh, which begins on March 18th.
"We have some plans, while touring team have some demands, and after taking everything into consideration, we select the venues. From that point, we had a plan to play practice games of England and we were planning to hold that in Sylhet.
But, eventually, England team are only willing to play the official matches and so that could not be materialized," he said. "We are hosting Ireland in Sylhet, so this is not a fact that we are not using that venue and we want to use every venue by playing it at different times," Nizamuddin added.
