Lyon disappointed not to tour Bangladesh
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||CF Correspondent||
Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon said that he is disappointed that they are not coming to Bangladesh for the two-match Test series in June.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and Cricket Australia (CA) recently announced that they have postponed Bangladesh and Australia’s two-match Test series in June.
The BCB and CA also said that they would work together to find a future window for the series which is part of the ICC World Test Championship.
The chief executive officer of CA, Kevin Roberts, said they will try their best to make sure the series eventually takes place on a suitable date.
"Obviously it's disappointing to not be heading over to Bangladesh. That was going to be a massive challenge for the team," Lyon said. "It's a place where I get personally challenged as well, and somewhere I enjoy playing my cricket. Regarding the scheduling, no doubt the ICC and Cricket Australia and all the big bosses will do everything they can to make sure we're getting back and playing cricket,’’ Lyon was quoted in a leading cricket website on Monday.
Though BCB and CA officials stated that they will be looking forward to finding a suitable date but in reality, finding a suitable spot for the series in both teams’ busy schedule will certainly be challenging due to the disruption of the penned schedule of sporting events due to the global pandemic.
As per the present fixtures of the ICC World Test Championship and other international commitments of both the teams, there are two free spots in the first fortnight of October in 2020 and in April 2021.
But Australia touring Bangladesh in October is quite impractical as they will be hosting the ICC World Twenty20 during that time.
The hosts’ campaign in that tournament will begin on October 24 due to their higher rank in the Twenty20 rankings while Bangladesh will play the first round, starting on October 19, making a Test series in the month highly unlikely.
The second open window is in April, 2021, but the Indian Premier League is set to take place in that slot, where many of Australia’s key players will be busy, but according to BCB insiders they are expecting to host the series just before the IPL otherwise in the scramble to fit in every postponed event after the pandemic, Australia’s tour of Bangladesh could very likely get lost in the shuffle though that will make the tourist pay more than the visitors considering it is part of ICC Test Championship.
The CA has the option to send a second-string Australia side to Bangladesh but that is a risk they are unlikely to take.
Sending a second-string team will increase the chances of defeat against Bangladesh, something that would be hugely detrimental for them in the ICC Test Championship.
Australia are currently second in the Test Championship points table, trailing India by 64 points a clean sweep against Bangladesh could fetch Australia 120 points, something India did last year by beating Bangladesh by an innings margin in both Tests in India, and Australia would want to do the same to stay in the hunt in the Test Championship and they will hardly have that chance if they opt to send a second-string team that too against the hosts who will be roaring to go against with the presence of Shakib.
In Australia’s last Test series in Bangladesh in 2017, the hosts earned their maiden Test win against Australia by defeating them in the opening Test of the two-match series and the visitors levelled the series with a win in the second Test in a hard-fought contest.
