The coronavirus pandemic has forced Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh, scheduled for June, to be postponed indefinitely.
In a press release on Thursday, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed the development. The BCB and Cricket Australia (CA) will now work together to find a future window for rescheduling the series which is part of the ICC World Test Championship.
“This is understandably disappointing for players and fans of both sides. However, in the current global scenario of the COVID-19 outbreak and considering the nature of the health emergency, the BCB and CA are in agreement that this is the most sensible and practical decision,” BCB CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury was quoted as saying in the press release.
“We hope that the situation will improve soon and we are able to hold this series at a convenient time in the near future. To that end, the BCB will continue to work closely with CA with whom we share a history of support and cooperation,” he said.
CA’s CEO Kevin Roberts said it is regrettable to postpone the series, but he thanked BCB for the decision.
“Postponing the tour is regrettable, but I’d like to thank the Bangladesh Cricket Board for the open, honest and responsible discussions that led us to this mutually-agreed position. The health of our people and communities is the number one priority for both Boards and that is reflected in the action we’ve taken in postponing the two Test matches,” Roberts was quoted as saying in the statement.
“As we know, the global cricket calendar is very busy but we’ll do everything we can to honour our commitment to Bangladesh and will continue to work with the BCB on an agreed date,” he said.
Earlier, Bangladesh’s Pakistan tour for an ODI and a Test in Karachi was also postponed due to the same reason. At the same time, Bangladesh’s tour of Ireland for ODIs and T20Is has also seen an abrupt postponement due to coronavirus outbreak.
COVID-19, first reported in China in December last year, has infected more than 1.5 million people globally and killed over 89,000 of them, according to Worldometer.