Tamim, Essex mutually excited

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal flew for England yesterday to play for English county side Essex Eagles in the NatWest T20 blast. The left-hander was scheduled to fly on Friday morning but left on Saturday due to a flight delay.

Essex head coach Chris Silverwood was excited with the inclusion of the left-hander. "Tamim has shown how good a player he is in the recent Champions Trophy. As a batsman he is capable of being destructive and that is reflected in his career strike rate," said Silverwood.

Tamim was also excited by the Essex stint. "We [Bangladesh] played there a few days ago so conditions will not be a problem," said the opener prior to his departure.

The southpaw however was also looking forward to the Tigers' next assignment against Australia at home. "The Australia series will be interesting. We will be ahead of them as we will be playing on our home turf. I will get enough time to prepare myself for the series when I return."

He also informed: "I got an offer from the Pakistan Super League. Last year I played a team whose owner has bought another new team. He invited me to play for that team. It is nice that he offered, but the BPL will be on at that time. The BPL is more important to me than the PSL so I did not agree to play.”

Tamim will likely play eight games for Sussex if Australia's tour of Bangladesh goes according to schedule.