Six day test

As expected the duration of first Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka would be six days as Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officially released the itineraries for the Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe tours on Friday.

The rest day, which has been shelved by the game's rule-makers since the mid-1990s, will take place on December 29, the day of the national parliamentary election.

It falls on the fourth day of the originally scheduled first Test that begins on December 26.

Sri Lanka will arrive in the capital on December 19 to play two Tests and a tri-nation one-day series that also includes Zimbabwe who will arrive in Dhaka on January 4.

The hectic home schedule will kick-off with a three-day match between Sri Lanka and a local selection which will start on December 21 in BKSP.

Zimbabwe will play their tour opener three-day match against GP-BCB National Cricket Academy from January 6 at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra and they will play three more one-day internationals against the Tigers after the tri-nation series.

On the other hand the national selectors will first announce the Test team for the two-match series against Sri Lanka after the completion of the ninth round of National Cricket League matches.

The Tigers will play the penultimate round of the country's lone first-class competition before another tough challenge against the formidable Lankans and after that the national cricketers will practice in a weeklong camp under the guidance of Jamie Siddons who returns from vacation on January 13.

"We will announce the Test squad after the ninth round matches. There is however hardly any chance to see any changes in the team except if someone got injured," said chief selector Rafiqul Alam yesterday.

There has been talk about uncapped paceman Rubel Hossain and the replacement of left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who has been suspended from international cricket due to his illegal action but Rafiqul ruled out the chances of any newcomers.

"Rubel just returned to action in the last round of the national league and he has to play more cricket in domestic level to get back his rhythm and we are still not thinking about the replacement of Razzak," Rafiqul added.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh's planned tour of the West Indies in April has been rescheduled for June and July as both parties have other lucrative commitments during that time.