The Bangladesh World Cup squad has reached Antigua after nearly two days of traveling. The Tigers arrived in St. John’s via Dubai and London and despite the jetlag the players were in good spirit.
“We landed in St. John’s at 3:45pm local time yesterday (1:45am Bangladesh Standard Time, 21 February, Wednesday). It was a 48-hour journey from Dhaka but everyone is fine,” informed team manager Ali Asif Khan over phone.
The team is staying at the Jolly Beach Resort which is about half an hour’s drive from capital St. John’s.
“It is a very nice resort and very big also. The food is also fine and the players are feeling comfortable. We’ll have training today. It takes around an hour to reach the ground,” added Asif.
Bangladesh are in Antigua for a warm-up tri-series against World Cup qualifiers Bermuda, coached by former West Indies star Gus Logie, and Canada starting next week before heading to Barbados to face New Zealand and Scotland in the official ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 warm-ups at the 3Ws Oval.
The Tigers became the first team outside the Caribbean region to arrive for the World Cup when they landed in St. Johns.
They were welcomed by top local cricket officials from the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket the ICC CWC 2007's local organising committee at the airport. Bangladesh's deputy High Commissioner in Canada Syed Masud Mahmood Khundoker was also present there.
Bangladesh and Bermuda will become the first two countries to play in an official ODI at the newly-built Sir Viv Richards Stadium in St.John’s on February 25. The Tigers then meet Canada on February 28 before leaving for Barbados on March 1.
The brand new 13,000 seat, $21-million Sir Viv Richards Stadium boasts two grand stands with a permanent capacity of 10,000 fixed seats and an additional 3,000 on the grounds – with another eight thousand temporary seats to be added for the World Cup Super-8 matches to be played at the ground between March 27 and April 9.
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