Rain curtails England’s warm-up fixture

Chittagong: England’s preparations for their Test series against Bangladesh were disrupted on Friday when the first day’s play of a two-day warm-up fixture against a Bangladesh XI was cancelled due to an unplayable pitch.

“Umpires deemed the ground condition was not suitable to start the match after overnight rain,” a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) spokesman said, referring to the ground in Chittagong.

“The two teams will now play a 45-over match tomorrow,” he added.

England are scheduled to play another two-day warm-up match against a BCB XI on October 16-17 as part of their preparations for the two-Test series against Bangladesh.

The opening Test begins in Chittagong on October 20. The second Test will be played in Mirpur, starting October 28.