24 October 1998
Cricket carnival commences today
By Nizamuddin Ahmed
The eight-match, nine-team knock-out Wills International Cup cricket
tournament gets under way today at the refurbished Bangabandhu
National Stadium.
The day-night match of the knockout tournament will commence at 2 in
the afternoon.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will release eleven balloons as part of
the fanfare and as many pigeons of peace at a ten-minute opening
ceremony of the mega event before being introduced to the players of
New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
The number symbolises the nine participating teams, hosts Bangladesh
and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
All the nine Test-playing nations are taking part in the one-chance
challenge, dubbed by many as the 'mini World Cup'. Test babes Zimbabwe
led by Alistair Campbell and New Zealand skippered by Stephen Fleming
will meet in the lone pre-quarter-final of the tourney on the day. The
winners will face world champions Sri Lanka in the quarters.
The other three quarter-finals will be played between England and
South Africa, Australia and India, and Pakistan and West Indies.
England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Zimbabwe are already
in the city. India, West Indies and four one-day specialists of the
Australian team will arrive tomorrow. Pakistan and the remaining ten
Aussies will reach the capital straight from Karachi on October 27.
The Australians are now on a tour to Pakistan.
This is the first tournament of its kind and the Bangabandhu Stadium
will go down in history as being the first venue to host all the
Test-playing teams in a single competition.
All the eight 50 overs-a-side matches will be held under lights and
start at 2 pm. A full match is expected to finish by 9.45 pm. The
final of the fund-raising meet is scheduled for November 1.
Teams will vie for the gold and silver glittering Cup, designed by an
Indian jeweller, which was unveiled in the city yesterday.
The tournament is being held under the aegis of the International
Cricket Council (ICC), the game's ruling body.
The government has reportedly incurred an expenditure of about Taka 16
crore to upgrade the Bangabandhu Stadium, whose new floodlights and
latest electronic scoreboard have already been dubbed as one of the
best in the world by some of the visiting players and experts.
The ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya, former ICC president and ICC
cricket committee chairman Sir Clyde Walcott and ICC chief executive
David Richards arrived in the city yesterday.
The tournament is a sell-out and tickets have been hard to get. Fans,
men and women, young and old, queued at the thirteen IFIC branches for
hours in a bid to get the elusive tickets after they were put on sale
on October 20. The BCB released thirty thousand gallery tickets for
each match and seven thousand of various other grades. Thousands
waited in vain from dawn to late afternoon.
Meanwhile, a scandal is surfacing regarding the forty hospitality
boxes, costing two to two-and-half lakh taka each, which, some patrons
allege, the BCB sold unfairly.
ICC earlier declared West Indian Steve Bucknor and England's Peter
Willey as the umpires for today's match. England's David Shepherd will
be the third (TV) umpire. Raman Subba Row, also of England, will be
the match referee.
There is tremendous interest centering the tournament throughout the
country and in other countries where cricket is a popular game.
Bangladesh Television and the Bangladesh Betar will cover all the
matches Live. Doordarshan of India and The Sky Television of England
will air the matches Live to millions of viewers all over the world.
Concerned officials will be on their toes and in some anxiety to
ensure uninterrupted power supply for the mega event.
Some roundabouts and road dividers in the city have been adorned in
festive colours and banners for the occasion. The BCB is also
publishing a befitting souvenir.
Volunteers of Rover Scouts and BNCC will be on duty alongside
Bangladesh Army, the Armed Police Battalion and other government and
private law-enforcing agencies.
The stadium gates will open for ticket-holders at 12 noon.
Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)