DHAKA: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has accused the International Cricket Council (ICC) of unfair treatment during the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, claiming that poor scheduling and heavy travel demands affected the team’s performance.
The BCB disclosed through Bangladeshi media that their Under-19 team needed to pay for its own travel expenses during the tournament because they wanted to decrease player fatigue. The board said the team’s early exit from the World Cup was partly due to an unfair schedule set by the ICC.
According to BCB Game Development Coordinator Habibul Bashar, the team failed to correctly assess the required run rate in matches against England and India. He declared that the travel timetable created the most significant effect on the players. The original schedule required Bangladesh to play two warm-up matches in Masvingo before their travel to Bulawayo according to his explanation. The ICC later changed the schedule which required the team to compete at two separate match locations. The BCB requested an ICC schedule change because our players faced excessive travel demands, according to Habibul Bashar. The request was not accepted.
According to Bangladeshi media reports, the team arrived in Zimbabwe on January 6 and they played warm-up matches on January 10 and 13 at two venues which required a four-hour road journey between them. Teams needed to use buses for their travel because the ICC banned domestic flights throughout the tournament.
Bangladesh needed to use road transportation from Harare to Bulawayo during the monsoon season to reach their group matches. The journey took about nine hours to complete.
The BCB arranged air travel at its own cost to protect players from exhaustion because the New Zealand and India matches are important.
The BCB decided to arrange air travel because it wanted to protect players from exhaustion during the upcoming matches against New Zealand and India.
The Under-19 World Cup ended for Bangladesh after their match against England.
