Dhaka: The threat to their Test status in the proposed shake-up in world cricket having been averted, Bangladesh Cricket Board today said that his country will play against India, England and Australia in the next two years.
President Nazmul Hassan said he hoped to sign the Members Participation Agreements (MPA) by February 8 with the three countries to confirm the tours.
"We will be in a better position than others. We haven`t been to India in 14 years. We will go there to play Tests, they will come here too. We will go to England; Australia will come here," Hassan said during a press conference in Mirpur.
He said the three Boards had asked BCB for a slot, which he said the BCB will send within the next three days.
"Our main issues were playing Tests. How we are going to solve this? Some of them gave dates, whether we will go or they`ll come. We hope to sign them by February 8," he said.
"They asked us for our time. We will let them know our possible slots in the next three days. One thing is for sure, there will be more cricket. Within two years, we hope to play against everyone.
"FTP didn`t have a legal basis. Now, there will be a Members Participation Agreement, which is enforceable by law, despite what anyone says or does now. What they are trying to say is that (they will be protected), for example, if a team wants to play just two Tests when they were supposed to play five. Then the TV broadcasters will take me to court for not playing five Tests. The MPA will come into force now to stop this," he added.
India, Australia and England had put forward a set of key principles relating to the future structure, governance and financial models of the ICC during the just-concluded meeting of the Executive Board in Dubai in order to bring about a radical overhaul in ICC`s functioning and to leave most of decision-making powers to the trio.
The `Big Three` got almost all they wanted except for the introduction of a two-tier Test format which would relegate the last two-ranked teams among the 10 Test-playing nations.
The ICC statement stated that the key principles had "unanimous support" from the Board members but PCB chief Zaka Ashraf claimed that four boards -- BCB, PCB, SLC and CSA -- were going to ask for a delay on the draft proposals becoming resolutions.
However, Hasaan rejected Ashraf`s claim, saying: "We were not in any alliance. I said in the meeting that if my trouble doesn`t go away, I am not with anyone. If the trouble goes away, I am with everyone. This was my strategy. We have also asked for time, like the other three. We have opposed on a specific point.
"It is unanimous by all ten (members). It is a press release; nobody has objected to that. We gave our objection to remove this thing (the proposed two-tier system)."
