BBC News: England made to wait - No play till lunch

[Mahmood]

Tour match, Dhaka. BCB President's XI v England.
Pitch inspection at 0600 BST

Bangladesh kids play cricket wherever they can find space
Rain has delayed the start of England's Bangladesh tour opener against a BCB President's XI.

Organisers had been hoping to get the game under way on time following heavy deluges in the last 48 hours.

But the outfields were still saturated at 0430 BST and a pitch inspection is now planned for 0600, with no play taking place before lunch.

Martin Saggers features in a bowler-heavy England line-up for the tourists' first warm-up match.

Among those to miss out were batsmen Nasser Hussain and Paul Collingwood and seamer Richard Johnson.

England, on their first tour of Bangladesh, have been starved of outdoor practice due to continued rain.

As days of wet weather marred on-field practice sessions, they have been forced to travel 90 minutes through teeming traffic for indoor nets.


I'm not going to belt it around the ground like Freddie does but I can hopefully get a few more fifties

Giles on his batting hopes

Spinner Ashley Giles is hoping to strike form after finding it tough to take wickets in the home Test series against South Africa.

"People always say you don't enjoy the good times without a few tears, but I would rather it was good all the time," said Giles.

"I wouldn't say it's focussed me even more, but I certainly look forward to coming back to the sub-continent and the challenge again of bowling a lot of overs and having that bit of responsibility when I have to take some wickets."

Giles can point to previous successes in the region.

He claimed 17 wickets to help England claim an historic series win in Pakistan three winters ago.

Bangladeshi opener Hannan Sarker is likely to lead the home side although their team has not been announced.

England play another three-day match against the Bangladesh A side starting on 16 October, before the first Test begins in Dhaka on 21 October.

[Edited on 12-10-2003 by Rajputro]

[Hasib]

groan.