More woes for Windies as tour match cancelled

SAVAR, Bangladesh,  CMC – West Indies will enter next week’s first Test against Bangladesh with no match practice after the only scheduled tour match was cancelled yesterday.

Recent heavy rains in the region left the BKSP ground under water and conditions had not improved enough for the game to go ahead, Bangladesh Cricket Board officials confirmed.

“The match was called off due to a wet outfield,” BCB cricket operations manager Sabbir Khan said.

The game was originally scheduled to be a three-day affair starting yesterday but had been reduced to two days because of the wet conditions.

LEG UP! West Indies players limber up during a training session on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy WICB)

Located 40 kilometres north of the capital city Dhaka, the BKSP ground is notorious for its poor drainage. No other fixture on the Windies tour has been scheduled for the venue, however.

The cancellation means West Indies will head into the first Test starting Tuesday in Mirpur without meaningful preparation after arriving here on Monday.

They face Bangladesh in the second Test in Kulna starting on November 21.

There is just one other scheduled tour match, a limited overs match on November 28 ahead of the five-match One-Day International series and one-off Twenty20.