CWI sends inspection team to Bangladesh ahead of 2021 tour

Cricket West Indies (CWI) will this week send a two-member inspection team to Bangladesh to conduct a detailed assessment ahead of the scheduled ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) tour in January next year.

The Tour is due to feature matches in both the ongoing​ ICC Test Match Championship and the ICC One-Day International Super League.

The recce will be conducted by CWI Board Director, Dr Akshai Mansingh (member of the CWI’s and ICC’s Medical Advisory Committee) and Paul Slowe, CWI’s Security Manager.

While in Bangladesh, they will visit all the proposed facilities for the tour in both Dhaka and Chattogram, attend matches in the Bangabanhu T20 Cup and also get a first-hand look at the country’s COVID-19 response protocols.

CWI CEO Johnny Grave said: “We would be the first International Team to visit Bangladesh since the onset of the pandemic and, acting always with the health and safety of our touring party at the forefront of our minds, we have decided to conduct a pre-tour recce by sending two highly experienced professionals to assess the BCB’s bio-secure plans and protocols. Our respective medical and operations teams have held a number of positive meetings over the last few weeks and following receipt of the report from our inspection team, a recommendation will be made to our Board of Directors on whether it is safe to tour Bangladesh early next year.”

The tour of Bangladesh would be the third tour for the West Indies Men’s team since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are presently in New Zealand for three T20 Internationals, two Test matches and two ‘A’ Team Four-Day matches.

Earlier this year, they visited England where they played three Test matches, in a bio-secure environment, which marked the return to the game on the international stage. The West Indies Women’s team also toured England in September for five T20 Internationals. (CWI)