Tour of South Africa 2008-09                 Captain : Mohammad Ashraful

Bangladesh’s fourteenth Test tour.

   (November-December 2008)

Second Test-playing tour of South Africa by Bangladesh

   (previous tour 2002-03)

In September the Bangladesh cricket Board banned 13 players for ten years for signing with the unauthorised ICL (Indian Cricket league), reportedly for 200,000 dollars each over a three-year period.

Because Abdur Razzaq's bowling action had been reported as suspect in New Zealand by umpires Daryl Harper and Asoka de Silva, he had to fly to Canberra to be assessed on 17 November. He should have returned to Johannesburg next day but the assessment showed that the amount of his elbow extension exceeded the level of tolerance and put him out of international cricket.

Nazmul Hossain was again a member of the tour party but did not play in any game.

All Bangladesh tours

Previous tour

New Zealand 2007-08

Next tour

West Indies 2009

Next tour of South Africa

  not yet scheduled

Members of the Test tour party

(15 + 1) 

Opening batsmen:  Imrul Kayes,  Tamim Iqbal.

Middle-order batsmen  Junaid Siddique, Mehrab Hossain, Mohammad Ashraful, Naeem Islam, Raqibul Hasan

Wicket-keeper/batsman: Mushfiqur Rahim

All-rounder:  Shakib Al Hasan

Slow bowlers:  Abdur Razzak

Fast bowlers:Mahbubul Alam, Mashrafe Mortaza, Nazmul Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel,  plus Sajidul Islam (reinforcement)

Divisional representation

(National Cricket League)

B  -  Barisal (1)

C  -  Chittagong (1)

D –  Dhaka (5)

K  -  Khulna (4)

Rj  -  Rajshahi (2)

S  -  Sylhet (2)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(19 November 2008):

 22 yrs 3 months.

ODI T20 member of the one-day squads.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Mohammad Ashraful 44,  Mashrafe Mortaza 31,  Shahadat Hossain 17,  Mushfiqur Rahim 10,  Shakib Al Hasan 8,  Tamim Iqbal 6,  Junaid Siddique 6,  Syed Rasel 6,  Abdur Razzak 3,  Mehrab Hossain 3,  Sajidul Islam 2,  Mahbubul Alam 1,  Naeem Islam 1,  Nazmul Hossain 1,  Imrul Kayes 0,  Raqibul Hasan 0.

Tour Officials

.

Selectors   

Rafiqul Alam (Chief Selector),  Akram Khan,  Naimur Rahman.

Selection

From a preliminary squad the selectors omitted Mahmudullah Riyad and Rajin Saleh.

Unavailable : Players who signed to play for the Dhaka Warriors in the Indian Cricket League

Team announced : Wednesday 29 Oct 2008

On Thursday 13 November the selectors decided that for the Test matches there would be no change from the ODI squad.

Time between selection and departure from Bangladesh

   3 days

 (29 October - 1 November)

Travel   

Dhaka  Q  Johannesburg

Fifteen players to participate in the ODI series departed Zia International Airport, Dhaka, on 1 November 2008. 

The team flew into Oliver Tambo Airport, Johannesburg, virtually unnoticed, at the end of a 16-hour journey. They were taken by coach to the team hotel, the Palazzo Montecasino, but were caught in a two-hour traffic jam.  Next day they trained at the Wanderers Ground.

Time spent in South Africa

   29 days

(2 November  - 1 December)

Reinforcements

Left-arm pacer Sajidul Islam was called up to the Test squad as a replacement for Syed Rasel, who was forced to return home with a back injury.  Sajidul reached South Africa on 17 November.

Fixtures/Results

⊕ (T20)Twenty 20 international

ϯ not first-class

§  one-day international

Time spent in South Africa before First Test: 

  17 days

(2 November - 19 November)

Test appearances on tour

2  -   Imrul Kayes,  Junaid Siddique,  Mahbubul Alam,  Mashrafe Mortaza,  Mehrab Hossain,  Mohammad Ashraful,   Mushfiqur Rahim,  Shahadat Hossain,  Shakib Al Hasan,  Tamim Iqbal  

1  -   Naeem Islam  Raqibul Hasan.

0  -   Abdur Razzak,  Nazmul Hossain,  Syed Rasel.

Match appearances

T  Test match

o  one-day international 

x other match 

⊕ T/20 international

∙  played for opposition

W won  L lost  D drawn

N no result   A abandoned 

u unknown result

Bangladesh’s six previous Test tour results:

in New Zealand 2007-08  (2 Tests)

- lost 0-2

 in Sri Lanka 2007  (3 Tests)

- lost 0-3

 in Sri Lanka 2005-06  (2 Tests)

- lost 0-2

 in England 2005  (2 Tests)

- lost 0-2

 in West Indies 2004  (2 Tests)

- lost 0-1

 in Zimbabwe 2003-04  (2 Tests)

- lost 0-1

Highlights

•   At Centurion Park Bangladesh had South Africa at 134 for 5 before a long 6th wicket partnership thwarted them.

•   Shakib Al Hasan took six wickets for 99 runs in this innings.

Tour Summary

Return to Bangladesh

Johannesburg   Q  Dhaka

They left South Africa on 1 December 2008.

The team arrived in Dhaka from Johannesburg on Tuesday evening 2 December.

Australian coach Jamie Siddons, Grant Trafford Luden, the conditioning coach, and physio Darryn Lifson all went back to Australia direct from South Africa.

Total time away from Bangladesh

    30 days  

(2 November  - 2 December)

Finances

Postscript