BCB officials put up a brave front

With genuine uncertainty caused by the vengeance of the rain gods, the Bangabandhu stadium is not a pretty sight. The heavy rain in the past few days have dumped plenty of water on it. But the Bangladesh Cricket Board put up a brave front at their press conference on the eve of the Asia Cup, scheduled to start in Dhaka on Sunday.

Admitting that they were "at the mercy of the weather" Bangladesh Cricket Board Saber Hossain Choudhary went on to explain the various plans they had. Their first preference naturally was to try and conduct the match tomorrow. The umpires for the game Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan and Salim Badar will inspect the conditions first thing in the morning and then decide on the course of action. The BCB says it can wait till as late as 8.30 pm local time before calling off the day's play. They estimate that they will have time to complete a 25 overs a side game if they start at 8.30 pm. In the event of no play being possible, the Sri Lankan team have consented to convert the rest day on May 29 into a reserve day.

The BCB has had to take into account many factors, the availability of satellite time on May 29 not being the least of them. Fortunately, that hurdle was overcome and a standby booking has been made for that date.

Choudhary seemed anxious to get the tournament under way on schedule. He categorically ruled out the possibility of moving the tournament anywhere else. Choudhary ended on a rather optimistic note, saying this tournament was an "opportunity to restore the image and confidence of the game, which has been badly dented in the recent past"

As the press conference drew to a close, the skies opened once more.