Some officials of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) seemed to be out on an assignment to earn adverse publicity for the organisation. From the very beginning of the showpiece they have handled the local media with a degree of incompetence and ignorance, causing undue inconvenience to journalists and photographers on duty. Before the match started, a high-flying BCB official refused to let the local lens-men take snaps of the England and South African players, for reasons best known to him. While the foreign photographers were busy clicking away their cameras inside the stadium, local professionals had to engage in an uncalled-for argument with the overbearing official to get the permission. But by the time he finally relented, the England team had already left for the dressing room. Only a few of the sprinting local photographers managed to persuade the Proteas to wait for an extra minute for their pictures.
Two Aussies in town
The first batch of the Australian team reached the capital yesterday. One-day specialist Michael Bevan and spinner Brad Young checked into the Sonargaon Hotel in the afternoon. Bevan and Young, who flew in from Australia, had the instant opportunity to see what was going on at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. On their arrival at the hotel, both of them stood in front of the big TV screen in the lobby for some time before leaving for their rooms.
Price hike
Touts were also seen offering tickets for the first quarterfinal match but they were less in number. Experiencing dull business the day before, the black marketers were seen offering gallery tickets of Taka 150 and 120 at Taka 80 or 90 in the morning. But very soon they came to their senses and realised that the gallery was almost full, that more spectators were pouring in. And before the first drink break, prices of the tickets went up to Taka 200 and 250 each.
Stink bomb
Some spectators at the western gallery (Gate-19) were absorbed in an exciting battle between England and South Africa. But a pungent odour brought them down to earth. A soil pipe that passed underneath the seats somehow started leaking. The beleaguered fans rushed to leave the spot to stay away from the unmistakable stench of urine flow.
Captains' carnival
All the captains clicked so far in the knockout tournament. Results of the first two matches show that all the four captains played pivotal roles for their sides, some in vain, some in triumph. Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, hit a sparkling 96 to overhaul a Zimbabwe target of 258 Saturday. Alistair Campbell set the trend for the captains, hitting the first hundred of the meet. Yesterday, it was England captain Adam Hollioake who led from the front to pile up a huge total for his team, hitting an 83 not out. Then South African captain Hansie Cronje scored 67 off 56 balls to break the English hearts. So, a beaming England manager David Lloyd could not resist saying, ``This must be the tournament of captains.''
Fatal attraction
Word was there that the Indian cricketers were on their way to the hotel. A group of teenaged girls rushed to the entrance and kept waiting for the stars from the neighbouring country. At last, after an hour, the Indian team finally arrived at the hotel.
The girls went hysterical. Choking and giggling, one of them only could utter, ``A-ja-ye, A-ja-ye.' She was waiting for an autograph but she was so lost in seeing the man of dream that she collapsed. Not in his arms, but on the floor.