Home ›› 17 Aug 2022 ›› Sport
Bangladesh women’s cricket team skipper Nigar Sultana Joty is looking forward to taking on Australia at home in the One-Day International and Twenty20 International series as International Cricket Council revealed the first-ever Future Tour Programme for women’s cricket.
Bangladesh will play 24 ODIs and 26 T20Is in the newly-launched FTP revealed on Tuesday.
The first-ever women’s FTP will run from May 2022 to April 2025, featuring a total of seven Test matches, 135 ODIs, and 159 T20Is involving 10 teams- Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and West Indies.
Bangladesh women’s team will play eight series throughout the FTP, four at home and four abroad. Their first assignment will be the New Zealand tour, where Bangladesh will play three ODIs and three T20Is against the White Ferns.In January 2023, Bangladesh will travel to Sri Lanka to play three ODIs and three T20Is.
India will come to Bangladesh in the middle of 2023 to play three ODIs and an equal number of T20Is. Next, Pakistan will travel to Bangladesh in October-November for three ODIs and three T20Is. In December, Bangladesh will fly to South Africa for the same number of matches.
In March 2024, Australia’s women cricketers will come to Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series followed by a three-match T20I series. Later in 2024, Ireland women’s team will come to Bangladesh to play three ODI matches and five T20I matches.
In early 2025, Bangladesh will visit West Indies to play three ODIs and three T20Is, which will wrap up the first FTP cycle for Bangladesh.
Towhid Mahmood, in-charge of women’s cricket at the Bangladesh Cricket Board, also feels that the FTP will change the face of women’s cricket in Bangladesh.
“It is a big moment for us. Earlier, we had to arrange bilateral series through board-to-board negotiation and agreement. But now, we have a clear roadmap, so we can plan our domestic tournaments accordingly and also prepare the cricketers for international cricket,” he told The Business Post on Tuesday.
Nigar Sultana has been vocal about more international matches and finally, she is happy to see the fixtures over the next two-and-a-half years.
“I was always vocal for more international matches because we hardly played international matches as there was no FTP. I did not play too many ODIs before the World Cup. I believe that if we can play more matches and prove ourselves, then our match fee and other facilities will automatically grow,” Nigar told The Business Post.
“As now we have a clear route-map ahead of us, we can prepare ourselves and figure out improvements. Playing among ourselves will not help us to grow as better cricketers,” she added.
Bangladesh will play over fifty international matches throughout the FTP in different conditions, which will require a strong pool of cricketers. Nigar is convinced about the steps taken by BCB.
“We have a U-19 World Cup coming up, therefore BCB has put on age-group cricketers in the National Cricket League teams. The tournament is starting on August 28. We just did a long fitness and conditioning camp. We are all aware that some new players are pushing for their places on the national team. I think all the professional players will understand the situation and will maintain themselves,” she said on Tuesday.
Nigar’s is eager to play against Australia at home.
“Australia have won everything. They have won the ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, and the Commonwealth Games gold medal. In the Women’s ODI World Cup, we put a tough fight against Australia, so they will be prepared when they come. I want to see how our team performs against the all-winning Australians, that will be our acid test,” Nigar told The Business Post.
