Here is an article from New Age:
Bangladesh unhappy with hotel
& security arrangements
Azad Majumder . Johannesburg
Intercontinental Palazzo Monticasino – having heard the name of the five-star hotel taxi driver Paul thought it must be somewhere near downtown Johannesburg, so he agreed to go without much haggling.
The fare was fixed at 100 rand, but shortly after he started with a group of Bangladeshi journalists on board, Paul realised he had made a big mistake. The fare of nearly 100km drive could never be so less and it left Paul heavily shocked.
Immediately Paul started saying that he must have to be paid 800 rand and the demand was not unjustified at all. The hotel was so far away from the city centre, it was even unknown to a seasoned taxi driver of Johannesburg. An adjacent casino and a super-mall covered with an artificial sky made the hotel worthy of staying for a tourist, but certainly not for a cricket team that travelled thousands of kilometers for a month-long tour to play one-day internals and Test series.
Shafiqul Haque Heera, the manager of the Bangladesh cricket team, had thus every reason to feel unhappy since he checked in at the hotel last week. ‘How can it be an ideal lodging for a cricket team I don’t understand? It can never be easy to concentrate on cricket in this casino hotel,’ a visibly annoyed manager said.‘Nobody simply cared for us here. On the day of our arrival, the players had to sit for hours at the lobby before they checked in. After 17 hours of air journey, it was totally unexpected,’ said Shafiqul.
It was not just the manager, even the South African trainer of the Bangladesh cricket team Grant Ludden was also complaining. Usually the visiting teams stay at Hotel Santan, but Ludden, who hails from the neighbouring city of Pretoria, had little clue why they were kept so far away.‘We were told that Santan is now being renovated for the 2010 World Cup football, so no room was available there. Maybe that is why we are here,’ Ludden said before the team left for Potchesfstroom.‘Then how the South Africa team are staying there?,’ the obvious question came almost immediately from a cricketer. Manager Shafiqul Haque said they were also not very happy with the security arrangement at the hotel.
Generally Bangladesh never complain about security, but it has become imperative after several national cricketers joined the unrecognised Indian Cricket League following the tour of Australia.
‘The BCB officials had categorically told me to remain alert so that no unwanted person could meet with the cricketers at the hotel. So we have asked for extra security during the tour, but nobody listens to us. Other than police escort on the match day, I have seen no security arrangement for us,’ he said.
The indifference shown by Cricket South Africa towards the Bangladesh cricket team was not limited to hotel accommodation only, but also in the transportation too. The day Bangladesh team arrived in Johannesburg, there was no bus waiting for them at the airport, said the manager.‘It was very unfortunate. We came here after 17 hours of air journey, naturally the players were tired. Will they tolerate it, if it happens to them in Dhaka? I can guarantee, they will not,’ he said.
In fact, Shafiqul also did not tolerate it. He said he has informed the matter to the Bangladesh Cricket Board and an official complaint has already been lodged with the CSA.‘We will travel at least to three cities during the tour. I just hope the situation will improve,’ said the former skipper.
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