Australia have abandoned plans to host Bangladesh later this year after the series was deemed financially unviable for the Australian board.
According to ICC’s Future Tour Program (FTP), Bangladesh are slated to play two Tests and three ODIs in Australia during August and September.
This would have been the subcontinent side’s first tour of Australia since 2003.
However, according to a report by ESPNCricinfo, Cricket Australia have decided to cancel the bilateral visit as the country’s free-to-air broadcaster refused to broadcast the series in the midst of the football season.
Cricket Australia (CA) has conveyed the decision to their counterparts at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and alternative arrangements are being mulled.
Sutherland has pointed out a lack of interest from broadcasters.
“We have proposed some options and are now waiting for their response.” BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury was quoted as saying.
According to the report, one of the options being looked at is Bangladesh touring Australia after the 2019 ICC World Cup.
“The way in which everything works in cricket is that it’s really at the home team’s discretion to work things out as to how much they want to host and what they want to host,” CA chief James Sutherland was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“We commit to content in other parts of the world under the previous or current cycle, every six years you are at least committed to playing away. But we don’t have to play at home or we can vary the programme at home according to our needs and I think we just got squeezed a little bit.”
Australia went on a two-Test tour of Bangladesh last year in October which was their first since 2011. The series ended 1-1.
