Bangladesh-SL Tests from January 27

Sri Lanka's tour of Bangladesh, which was scheduled for February 2014, has been advanced by a few days to allow the Asia Cup to kick off on February 24. Bangladesh will now host Sri Lanka for two Tests starting on January 27, a week after Sri Lank's Test series against Pakistan in the UAE concludes. The teams will also play two Twenty20s and three ODIs during the series, which ends on February 22, two days before the Asia Cup begins in Bangladesh.

Mirpur and Chittagong will get a Test each, while the teams will also travel to Sylhet for the limited-overs games. The ODI in Sylhet, on February 17, will provide the BCB an opportunity to check how match-fit the ground is. The Twenty20 scheduled between Bangladesh and New Zealand here in November 2013 was shifted out, with the BCB scrambling to meet the ICC's deadline of November 30 to have the stadium fully ready for the World Twenty20. The Sri Lanka ODI will be the first International game at the venue since its completion. 

The two teams last faced off in March 2013, in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka won the two-Test series 1-0, the ODIs were tied 1-1, and the hosts won the one-off T20.

ICC extends Bangladesh's T20 World Cup venue deadline to Nov 30

The International Cricket Council has handed Bangladesh an extension until 30 November to be able to complete work on stadiums for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament next year.

According to the BBC, it had been widely reported that concerns over facilities might cause the tournament to be moved to another country, such as South Africa.

However, the ICC board has now approved a request to extend the deadline, the report said.

The full schedule for the event, due to take place between 16 March and 6 April 2014, will be released on 27 October, the report added.

The news follows an inspection report by the ICC's venue consultant, the report further said.

The World Twenty20 will feature men's and women's tournaments played in parallel, as has happened at three of the four previous events, and both are set to be the biggest yet with 16 men's teams rather than 12, and 10 women's teams rather than eight, according to the report.

BCB elections set for October 10

The Bangladesh Cricket Board's elections will be held on October 10, according to a gazetted notice of the National Sports Council (NSC). It will be held at the NSC Tower in Dhaka, with the results announced on the same day.

The polls will coincide with the second day of the first Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Chittagong. But BCB's acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury has insisted that it will not affect the holding of the match.

Twenty-three directors will be elected through votes from 172 councillors of various entities around the country. These include all the divisional and district sports associations, the Dhaka clubs, former cricketers, governmental institutions and education boards. the NSC, the sports regulatory body in Bangladesh, will select three directors among their 15 councillors. From these 26 directors, the BCB will choose its president, the first elected chief in the board's history, A date has not been declared for the presidential election.

The BCB's current president, Nazmul Hassan, and former chief Saber Hossain Chowdhury are taking in the part in the elections, and are likely to head two panels and battle for the president's post. Both are ruling-party MPs, but have been involved in verbal battle through the media in recent weeks.

While it is the first time the BCB head will be elected, it's the fifth BCB elections - previously they were held in 1988, 2001,2005 and 2009. The directors elected in the last election ran the board till October last year, after which the governmet appointed an ad-hoo committee. The body was supposed to hold elections within three months of their appointment, but have taken almost a year to complete preparations for the elections.

IPL7 may move to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka -BCCI

The next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) - or at least some matches of the T20 tournament may be played outside India. Sri Lanka or Bangladesh, or both, could be the likely host, a top cricket board official said.

The reason is the same as in 2009, when the second season was played in South Africa: Lok Sabha elections. The election dates are not known yet, but the BCCI has begun to prepare for a possible overlap with the IPL, which is played in April and May.

"A clear picture will emerge only after the dates for the Lok Sabha elections are announced. Until then, we are considering whether to have a few games in India and then move abroad, or vice versa. Both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are short journeys, so logistically, it won't be much of a problem," the BCCI offcial said.

The current Lok Sabha's term ends in May 2014, and if the election is not brought forward, the IPL will coincide with  campaigning and voting, and severely stretch security forces.

"The decision to move to South Africa in 2009 was taken at the last minute, and nobody had expected than that there would be an issue regarding security. But we now know that such a situation may arise again, and we are getting ready for it," the official said.

IPL CEO Sundar Raman will come up with detailed plans in due course. The BCCI is considering splitting season 7 into two halves, one of which might travel outside India.

Unlike in 2009, the board will not this time knock on the doors of Cricket South Africa (CSA) - the reasons being the recent tensions with their CEO Haroon Lorgat, and the expensive dollar, which would make playing the tournament in South Africa Significantly more expensive.

Asia Cup set for February 24-March 7 in Bangladesh

The Asia Cup will be held between February 24 and March 7 in Bangladesh, pending confirmation by Nimbus, which owns the broadcasting rights for the event. The dates along with the venues and other details of the tournament were discussed at the Asian Cricket Council meeting in Chennai on Saturday. The meeting was attended by the BCCI president N Srinivasan and representatives from Sri Lanka (Nishanta Ranatuga, Sri Lankan Cricket secretary) and Pakistan (Subhan Ahmed, Pakistan Cricket Board Chief operating officer) as well as ACC chief executive Syed Ashraful Huq.

"India has confirmed those dates. Now we will wait for the broadcaster to confirm they are fine," an official privy to the meeting told ESPNcricinfo. "Those are the only dates when all the four participating countries are available to play."

Earlier the participation of India was in doubt, with the Asia Cup beginning too soon after the finish of the 2014 New Zealand tour as per the original schedules. But the BCCI worked out a revised itinerary for the New Zealand tour-five ODIs and two Tests will be played between January 19 and February 18. "The BCCI said because we want to play the Asia Cup, we have cut down on the New Zealand tour," the official said.

The perceived doubts about Nimbus emerge from the company having filed for bankruptcy. However, the official was confident Nimbus would not pull out because the broadcaster had already paid the first installment of the bank guarantee. "There is no reason why they should not broadcaster had already paid the first installment of the bank guarantee. "There is no reason why they should not broadcast. We will provide them with a cut-off date, otherwise we will have to approach another broadcaster," he said.

Dhaka and Fatullah are likely to host the Asia Cup matches but a final decision on whether the tournament will be played at one or both venues will be taken in the near future. The tournament had been moved to Bangladesh after original hosts India said they were unable to organise the tournament due to a packed international calendar, forcing the ACC to shift the venue at a meeting on April 8 in kuala Lumpur .

Cox's Bazar Stadium To Be Temporary Structure (Bangladesh)

The stadium that is being built in Cox's Bazar for the World Twenty20 next year will only be a temporary one, the country's civil aviation and tourism minister Faruk Khan said.

The stadium near the beach will make way for a proposed five* hotel, although BCB president Nazmul Hassan said a permanent stadium will eventually be built in the beach town. 

The announcement was made after an inter-ministerial meeting held on Thursday in Dhaka, with the BCB chief and acting CEO Nizamuddin Ahmed being present, among others.

"Under the PPP(Public Private Partnership) it has been confirmed that an international-standard five* resort will be built at stadium's current location," Khan said. "The project is now in the PPP office but there will be no problem in hosting the World Twenty20 matches. All the structures have been designed on a temporary basis. We will decide later where the proper stadium will be built."

Earlier in the year, the country's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered that the land, formerly a golf course, be handed over to the BCB but the land has remained with the civil aviation ministry.

The ground which is being planned to be used for the women's World Twenty20, is only going to have a boundary wall and temporary pavilions.