Bangladesh will host the Asia Cup Cricket in 2012 from March 1to 11, it was announced by the Asian Cricket Council president, AHM Mustafa Kamal, at a press briefing after a meeting of the ACC executive committee at the Radisson Winter Garden on Sunday.
The United Arab Emirates and China also wanted to host the Asia Cup but a better offer from Bangladesh made it the ultimate choice for the showpiece event. The seven-match tournament will be held at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
‘We are happy to announce that we will host the Asia Cup in 2012 in Bangladesh,’ said Kamal.
The meeting, attended by all 22 executive members of ACC, emphasised on expanding the activities of the Asian cricket’s ruling body by including four more events in its calendar. The events are A Team, Under-19 Team, Academy and Women’s cricket.
‘We cannot disclose the exact dates but surely these events will be organised regularly from 2011,’ said Kamal.
‘Four Test-playing member countries of the ACC will play in the events along with four other Associate member countries, who will have to qualify through a play-off tournament,’ said Kamal.
It was also decided at the meeting that the four Test-playing nations – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – will play the role of Ambassador and will play cricket with the associate members in their countries in order to develop their game.
‘At first, we will try to organise the under-19 tournament as it will be useful for the other countries before the Under-19 World Cup,’ said Ashraful Haque, CEO of the ACC.
The president also thanked Ashraful Haque for his efforts to include cricket in the Asian Games.
The meeting also urged the members to work relentlessly so that cricket can be inducted into the Olympics someday. It also approved the budget for the year 2011 and reports of the development and accounts committees, which will be submitted to the International Cricket Council in March next year.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board president also ruled out any more international series for the Tigers before the World Cup as all the teams are engaged elsewhere.
