T20 tri-series a chance for Tigers

Bangladesh's next cricket sojourn to Australia looms as T20 tri-series scheduled as preparation for the ICC World T20 tournament in 2020 after both nations agreed an out-of-season Test campaign later this year delivered few strategic bilateral benefits.

Cricket Australia today confirmed reports that a two-Test, three-ODI series with Bangladesh that was included in the most recent iteration of the ICC's Future Tours Program for August-September this year will not proceed.

Instead, discussions between CA and the Bangladesh Cricket Board resolved that the Tigers might be better served by a series of T20 internationals in late 2019 to help familiarise them with Australia conditions ahead of the World T20, having failed to win a match at the 2016 event in India.

Those proposed Tests would likely have been staged at venues in northern Australia such as Darwin and Cairns, where Bangladesh played on their only Test visit to Australia to date (in July, 2003) and suffered defeats by more than an innings in both matches.

Australia's tour to Bangladesh last year – where the Tigers have recorded six of the 10 Test victories they have notched in 106 matches since earning Test status in 2000 – ended in a 1-1 result after the hosts won the opening fixture in Dhaka.

And although Tests played in northern Australia during the southern hemisphere winter have historically attracted small crowds and viewing audiences, CA refuted suggestions the decision not to proceed with the Bangladesh Tests this year was made on economic grounds.

"The window allocated in the ICC FTP for Bangladesh to tour Australia in August this year has been postponed, by mutual agreement by both Cricket Australia and the Bangladesh Cricket Board," a CA spokesman said today.

"Both countries agreed to postponing that tour to be better aligned ahead of the ICC World T20 in 2020 in Australia."

It is understood that opportunity could come through a T20 tri-series such as Australia played with England and New Zealand earlier this year, and will take part in July against Pakistan and host nation Zimbabwe.

Administrators worldwide are recognising that triangular T20 tournaments offer greater scheduling flexibility, competition and spectator appeal than some forms of bilateral programming, with Australia's upcoming Zimbabwe tour featuring six preliminary matches and a final within the space of a week. 

Under the current version of the ICC's Future Tours document, Australia's scheduled visit to Zimbabwe (where they have not played Test cricket since 1999) should feature a Test match and three ODIs.

But such is the fluid nature of the TPP and the shifting priorities and circumstances for the 12 Test nations (now including Ireland and Afghanistan), the make-up of tours are regularly altered to maximise bilateral (or trilateral) benefits.

While the ICC designs its FTP to try and schedule as many Test, ODI and T20 engagements (home and away) across a four-year cycle as well as factor in its own international tournaments, the final arbiter in agreeing to on-field commitments are the competing teams' administrative bodies.

That was shown earlier this week then the Board of Control for Cricket in India advised CA they were not prepared to play the opening Test of next summer's Australia tour as a day-night match.

It's that flexibility that also means the venues for Australia's scheduled two-Test series against Pakistan later this year remain unconfirmed, less than six months before the tour is due to begin in early October.

It was expected that the series would be staged in the United Arab Emirates, where Pakistan has played a bulk of their 'home' Tests since a terror attack targeting the touring Sri Lanka team and match officials caused the abandonment of a match in Lahore in 2009.

However, the Pakistan Cricket Board has recently indicated the growth of domestic competitions in the UAE and the accompanying demand for venues has meant Pakistan is looking at alternate locations at which to stage its 'home' fixtures.

Malaysia is one of those alternatives reportedly being considered by the PCB, though CA has already stated that it is not prepared to play matches in Pakistan despite a number of international teams agreeing to return there for T20 fixtures in the recent past and near future.