Afghans coming next month

The Afghanistan cricket team will be touring Bangladesh in the last week of September for three One Day Internationals against the hosts, it was confirmed yesterday.

A statement by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) stated that the Afghans would play the three matches against hosts Bangladesh, all of which will be held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

Nasimullah Danish, chairman of ACB said: “This will be the first series between Bangladesh and Afghanistan. We are looking forward to an entertaining cricket series along with the cricket lovers of Bangladesh.”

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon later briefed reporters about the tour, saying the three matches would take place on Sep 25, Sep 28 and Oct 1.

“The team wanted to play one series before the England series since they haven't played for a long time,” the BCB president said. “We saw that Afghanistan were available. And then I asked the players whether they wanted to play and they were all willing.

“If we can play three ODIs against them [Afghanistan], it will help us in the series against England.  So we were thinking about this. Many dates were discussed but finally we decided on September 25 and 28 and October 1. They will arrive here on September 22,” Papon added.

This will be the first full series between Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the latter having been only recently awarded full membership of the Asian Cricket Council. The last time the two teams met, the Tigers were victorious. However, before that, the hosts had suffered a shock defeat in Fatullah during the Asia Cup in 2014.

Papon further said that the BCB had decided to hire a consultant ahead of the Afghanistan series.

“We have decided to hire a consultant for our national team. Our head coach has told us that we have a shortage in the coaching staff. There are a number of series after the Afghanistan series including the England series, New Zealand series, Ireland series and the Champions Trophy. And there is no break ahead, so we are looking to hire someone now.”

Regarding the appointment of a bowling coach, he said: “As I had said earlier, the bowling coach has been finalised. However, he hasn't yet submitted his resignation to his team and so we can't announce his name officially. He is most likely going to submit his resignation tomorrow and inform us.” The BCB boss was actually referring to former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh.