WC games only at Mirpur, Fatullah

In a major step towards preparing for the 2011 ICC World Cup, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has nominated two venues for holding the matches of the tournament.

After it's board of directors' meeting yesterday at Mirpur, the BCB revealed that Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur and Fatullah Cricket Stadium would be the venues for holding matches of the showcase event which will be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"The BCB president [Lt Gen Sina Ibn Jamali] apprised the board that after his meeting with the state minister for youth and sports recently it was decided that the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur and the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium, Fatullah will be the nominated venues for holding matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011," a BCB statement said.

The opening ceremony of the cricket's biggest extravaganza will be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium while alternate venues will be developed in Chittagong and Khulna from BCB's own resources.

Bangladesh got a bigger share of matches after Pakistan was stripped of its co-hosts status following security concerns.

Bangladesh will now stage eight matches including two quarterfinals as well as the opening ceremony on February 18, 2011. India will host 29 of the 49 matches across eight venues including the final and a semifinal and Sri Lanka will host 12 matches in three venues.

The BCB's decision at least cleared the air about holding matches at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS), the country's premier venue which is now possessed by Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), as well as BFF's desire to arrange the First Division football league at Fatullah.

"At this moment we have decided about the venues for holding the matches, but if any decision comes from the highest level to hold the matches at the BNS, we will definitely consider it," said BCB's media committee chairman Jalal Yunus.

There has been a lot of talks and demands from different quarters to hold at least two matches in Chittagong but Yunus said that they chose two venues in Dhaka considering many issues.

"What I can say is that Chittagong is not very convenient for staging World Cup matches because of various reasons. We took one venue in Dhaka and another close to Dhaka to organise it smoothly," he explained.

In reply to another question he said that the board unanimously decided to upgrade venues in Chittagong and Khulna at it's own cost.

"We will definitely seek assistance from the government if needed, but at first we want to upgrade the alternative venues at our own cost," he added.

The board also approved the constitution for the Divisional Cricket Association and on the other hand they sanctioned a grant of Tk. 3,00,000 for ailing former national cricket coach Syed Altaf Hossain and Tk 2,00,000 for the family of late Sajjadul Alam Setu, a first class cricketer who died in a tragic road accident in Khulna on March 16, 2007.