With the aim of getting acquainted with the English weather conditions and bringing out a possible eleven for the World Cup proper to be held in England next June, a 17-member Bangladesh cricket team, led by Akram Khan, will leave tonight for a 45-day tour of Northern Ireland, England and Scotland.
``Our mission is to see who performs well in the very different conditions of English weather and surface. The wicket will be green, the weather will be cold and the ball will swing. We are going to observe how they pick the game in England,'' said Bangladesh coach Gordon Greenidge to The Daily Star yesterday evening at the Dhaka Stadium.
``It is indeed a good opportunity for us to be able to rehearse our play in England as we will be playing the World Cup there,'' added the former West Indian opener.
While Gordon was cautious in his remarks, manager Gazi Ashraf Hossain was rather optimistic about making his final eleven for the World Cup from this tour.
``I think we would be able to bring out a possible eleven from this tour,'' said Mr. Hossain in his turn.
``Our main aim is to get experience in England where we are going to play next year in the World Cup. Our boys lack in performance and, after the dismal tour in India, most of them are now fully confused about their abilities. This tour will help them in regaining back their confidence as well,'' said the first-ever salaried manager of the Bangladesh team who also confirmed that he would continue with his job up until the World Cup.
Captain Akram Khan and Ahmed Sajjadul Alam, a member of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and tour manager, also expressed their guarded optimism about the tour.
The one and a half month long tour starts in Northern Ireland with the first of the four one-day matches scheduled for Belfast on June 5. The other three matches against Northern Ireland are billed for June 7, 12 and 15.
Bangladesh will also play a two-day match against Northern Ireland and another limited-over match against a provincial side during their Northern Ireland tour which ends on June 15.
The England part of the tour, which includes three one-day matches against three county sides--Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire, begins from June 18 and finishes on July 1. During their two-week stay in England, Bangladesh will play three more one-dayers against Radlett CC, MCC Young Cricketers and ECB Eleven and a three-day match against MCC.
The final part of the tour in Scotland will start from July 4 with Bangladesh taking on the hosts in Glasgow in the first of the three-match (Cairn Trophy) one-day series. The other two matches are scheduled for Edinburgh on July 11 and 12. Apart from the one-day matches, Bangladesh will play another limited-over match and two three-day matches against Scotland. The last match, a three day affair against Scotland national team, will start in Lincithgow from July 14.
Squad: Akram Khan (captain), Aminul Islam (vice-captain), Athar Ali Khan, Minhazul Abedin, Faruque Ahmed, Mohmmad Rafuque, Naimur Rahman, Khaled Mahmud, Khaled Masood, Hasibul Hossain, Morshed Ali Khan, Azam Iqbal, Shafiuddin Ahmed, Atiar Rahman, Zakir Hasan, Enamul Haque and Tanveer Khan.
Officials: Ahmed Sajjadul Alam (tour-manager), Gazi Ashraf Hossain ( manager) and Gordon Greenidge (coach).