21 October 1998
ICC concerned over strike call in Bangladesh
By Hasan Saeed
DHAKA, Oct 20: International Cricket Council (ICC), the organiser of
the International Cup, has enquired about the situation in Dhaka in
view of the opposition's hartal.
The ICC made the queries to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to let
them know whether the prevailing political situation will create any
problem in holding the first-ever knock out world cup cricket.
BCB President and Deputy Minister for Shipping Saber Hossain
Chowdhury told sports reporters today (Tuesday) that the ICC is a bit
concerned about the situation, but at this stage they've no
alternative than to hold the tourney as scheduled from Oct 24. The
BCB president, however, hoped that the opposition would call off
their Thursday's hartal.
Meanwhile, a parliamentary standing committee on Youth and Sports
Ministry comprising members from the ruling and opposition parties
today unanimously decided that there will be no programme of
political agitation during the tournament. After the meeting, the
Committee members also visited the games venue at Bangabandhu
National Stadium to see the preparation for the 9-nation tournament.
The BCB president said: "We earned the rare honour of hosting the
prestigious tournament" after giving an assurance to the ICC of
stable political situation during the highly rated tourney as well as
of some infrastructure development needed for it.
He said ICC chief Jagmohon Dalmiya met with the government and
opposition leaders in Dhaka a few months back and both the sides
agreed to extend their full support to host the tournament in Dhaka.
Weather: Despite the current cloudy weather, experts are optimistic
that rain would not affect the International Cup, the "Monsoon is
over. Light to moderate rainfall is taking place due to a low, but
its impact may be over before the inauguration of the tournament,"
said Met Office Director Ershad Hossain.
He informed that there is no sign of low in the Bay that could cause
rainfall in the country, including capital Dhaka. "Climate history
indicates very light rainfall towards the end of October, but it
should not hamper the tournament," the Met Office director said.
Met Office forecast the wind speed in the last week of October to be
7-10 kilometre in Dhaka in the evening when the day-night matches
will be going on. However, wind speed in the morning will be 3-5 km.
International Cricket Council (ICC) has already announced that the
bowls-off system of tie-breaking will be followed if any match of the
tournament is abandoned for rain or any other reason.
Event Manager Asif Iqbal informed that for the tie-breaking, five
bowlers from each side will bowl twice to empty wickets. Sudden death
will apply if the match still remains tied, he said.
Source :: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)