Cricket West Indies observers, Akshai Mansingh and Paul Slowe, are happy with the medical and security protocols taken by Bangladesh Cricket Board for the forthcoming tour of the Caribbean cricket team slated to take place in January next year.
Mansingh and Slowe visited the training and medical facilities at Dhaka and Chattogram along with accommodation and match-day arrangements and expressed their satisfaction while interacting with the media at the BCB premises on Wednesday.
‘We are very happy with what we saw in Dhaka and Chattogram. The facilities are excellent. The COVID protocols are concise and tight,’ Mansingh, a CWI director, told the reporters.
‘We came to Bangladesh to view the protocols regarding COVID-19, and its prevention, and the possibility of the West Indies touring early next year, in January. We had a lot of meetings before we actually came and heard the protocol that was put forward by the BCB, which was very impressive,’ he added.
Slowe, who accompanied the champion West Indies side during the 2016 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, also expressed his satisfaction with the security measures.
‘I am happy to say that what I have seen in the security plans and all the protocols that were presented are very satisfactory. I have no doubt if those plans were to unfold as written and discussed, then there should be no untoward incidents,’ said the security observer.
The observers will now present their report to the board back home and Mansingh was confident that the series will go ahead as planned.
‘We are to report back to the CWI and I have no doubt that once the report is forwarded, the directors are going to consider the report and it is hoped, they will sign off on the tour.’
The Test series against West Indies is set to be Bangladesh’s first international venture in the post-pandemic era, while the Caribbean side had already played a three-Test series against England in June, are currently touring New Zealand for three Twenty20s and two Tests.
Bangladesh were supposed play a Test series in October against Sri Lanka last month, but the tour got indefinitely postponed due to disagreements regarding quarantine policy.
But there is no disagreement regarding quarantine policy between Bangladesh Cricket Board and its West Indian counterparts as Mansingh said that the Caribbean players will undergo the standard quarantine procedures after arriving in the country.
‘According to COVID protocols, there will be at least seven days where we have to make sure we are not contaminating Bangladesh. So we have to make sure we are in quarantine,’ said Mansingh, Mansingh, who is also a member of ICC’s Medical Advisory Committee.
‘Certainly for the first three days, we suggest in-room quarantine. After the third day, we do a second test. After that is negative, we would like to do some practicing within our squad, but not expose ourselves to anybody else until seven days are passed.
‘We will have inter-squad practice and activities. After Day 7, the recommendation is that we should have net sessions with Bangladeshi players.’
The series was initially slated to begin at the first week of January, but it could be deferred a few days, said BCB chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury.
‘Tentatively they might come in the middle of January. The date may fluctuate by two-three days.’ -new age
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