KARACHI, April 23: A spokesman of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has dismissed reports suggesting that a conspiracy by the governing body of the game in Bangladesh forced the cancellation of their tour to Pakistan.

Interestingly, though, the BCB is yet to receive a copy of the stay-order given by the Dhaka High Court last week which forced the cancellation of the short tour that included one T20 and one ODI.

Speaking to Dawn News, BCB’s spokesman Jalal Younus stated that all efforts were made to ensure that the tour takes place but the order by the Dhaka High Court caused the cancellation.

He added that while the BCB lawyers presented their case earnestly and argued in favour of the tour, they had to abide by the judgment which deferred the tour for at least four weeks.

Jalal further said that due to a packed schedule of their cricket team, it would be next to impossible to tour even if the court gives a favourable response in four weeks time.

Elaborating on the case hearing in Dhaka High Court, Jalal said that the judges had asked the BCB lawyers about the scheduling of Pakistan’s limited overs series against Australia in Sri Lanka and questioned the Board as to why they were being invited to Pakistan whilst Australia was being facilitated with a limited overs series at a neutral venue in Sri Lanka.

The High Court judges Farid Ahmed and Sheikh Hasan Arif also questioned the intentions of the Board in sending the team to Pakistan and expressed astonishment over their enthusiasm about undertaking the tour which, they said, was contrary to the stance taken by other boards around the world besides the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The judges felt that Bangladesh was the only Test-playing nation keen on touring Pakistan despite the prevailing security situation in the country and thus they needed to be thoroughly convinced about the safety aspect of the tour. The judgment was then taken in public interest, he informed.