England, Zimbabwe arrive in Dhaka amid strike (19 October 1998)

19 October 1998

England, Zimbabwe arrive in Dhaka amid strike

by Zahid Newaz in Dhaka

Despite opposition political parties enforced a dawn-to-dusk hartal (strike), cricket fever gripped with capital Dhaka on arrival of England and Zimbabwe teams Sunday to participate in the nine-nation Wills International Cup, the biggest cricket carnival in the country.

A 17-member Zimbabwe squad, led by Alistair Campbell, was the first to reach the city at 7:30 am on Sunday by Bangladesh Biman via Dubai. The Zimbabwe team, comprising 14 players and three officials, were driven to Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel amidst tight security when some 5,000 law enforcing personnel were guarding the city as opposition enforced the day-long shut down.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led 7-party alliance called for the stoppage in the capital as authorities refused to allow them to stage a mass hunger strike in front of Wills Cup venue for the sake of last moment preparations of the tournament.

An 18-member England team, also comprising 14 cricketers and four officials, arrived at Zia International Airport by British Airways at 4:30 pm on their first visit to Bangladesh.

They were also escorted by security personnel from the airport to the hotel where all the participating teams will be staying during the "mini world cup".

In the inaugural match (pre-quarter final) of the knock-out tournament, Zimbabwe will take on New Zealand on October 24 while England play their first match (quarter final) against South Africa on Oct 25.

Earlier, England will play two practice matches against New Zealand and host Bangladesh on Oct 21 and 23 respectively, both at the BKSP ground, about 35 kilometres from the capital.

Source :: CricInfo365