New FTP has faults: BCB director

Bangladesh Cricket Board director Jalal Yunus said the system of organising bilateral series had gone bad since ICC stopped getting involved in the Future Tours Programme.

"I feel that the FTP that the ICC had was better," Yunus said.

"The system has gone bad from the day the ICC stopped doing the FTP and the matter has become a bilateral agreement. It has created a lot of opportunities and loopholes. I don't support this. It is no longer a healthy competition." BCB director added.

The West Indian Cricket Board (WICB) confirmed on Sunday that the tri-series with Zimbabwe, Pakistan and West Indies would be held before the September 30, 2015 cut-off date to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Until Sunday's confirmation, West Indies were not scheduled to play any ODIs before the September 30 deadline.

Yunus, BCB's media committee chairman, said that the new system left room for a lot of loopholes and manipulation. He added that West Indies' participation in the tri-series, however, was within their right.

Bangladesh are currently seventh with 93 points in the ICC ODI rankings, while West Indies are five points behind at eighth. Pakistan are currently ninth, but have a five-match series against Sri Lanka starting on July 11.

Without the complete low-down on the make-up of the tri-series, there has been some apprehension over Bangladesh’s qualification for the Champions Trophy.

Ahead of their ODI series against India, Bangladesh knew they had to win two out of their six scheduled ODIs against India and South Africa.

After they took a 2-0 lead against India earlier this month, calculations from the ICC ODI rankings system confirmed that Bangladesh had qualified for the 2017 tournament.

However, the calculations took into considerations only the remaining matches in July to be played by Bangladesh and Pakistan.

On the positive side, if Bangladesh can do well against South Africa with three-ODIs on the card in July, Champions Trophy spot will be made concrete.

However, if the results don’t go Tigers’ way, West Indies and Pakistan may have an outside chance to qualify with still some matches to go before the Champions Trophy cut-off time.

Yunus said Bangladesh can strengthen their position by doing well against South Africa, but there won't be enough time between the end of the South Africa series and the September 30 deadline to organise more ODIs, as they are also scheduled to host two Tests against Australia in October.