Wash-out on cards in Brisbane

Azad Majumder . Brisbane

Tropical storm Marcia made the landfall on Friday, causing less damage than it was anticipated, but it did little to lessen the threat it was posing to today’s Bangladesh-Australia match at Brisbane.The hosts were hoping against hope for the weather to improve rapidly that would provide them with a chance to take full points that they had earlier almost taken for granted.Marcia caused over 500mm rainfall in 24 hour on Friday at Queensland before the local authorities downgraded it from category five to two.The storm is unlikely to get calmed anytime soon, said the meteorologists, adding that it can still cause more damages.By the time, Bangladesh-Australia match is scheduled to start, it [cyclone] will reach to a place called Bundaburg, 370km north from the Brisbane.Rain, which had been in full force since the Friday morning, took some break in the afternoon only for it to return shortly to keep Gabba, Brisbane’s cricket pilgrimage, still swamped.

From his experience at the city, Australian captain Michael Clarke still did not rule out the chance of a truncated match.‘I spoke to the boys briefly about that yesterday in our team meeting,’ said Clarke.‘The fact that I’ve seen it a number of times in my career when you look outside the window, especially in Brisbane and it looks like you’re not going to play.‘I think we’ve seen that in the Ashes the first Test against England as well. Then an hour later you’re on the field, and I think that’s credit to obviously the people that look after the ground here.‘The drainage facility is as good as anywhere in the world, so our team’s mindset is to make sure we’re as well prepared as we can be.‘If it gets delayed, then so be it. But up until we’re told that the game’s off, we’re expecting to play, whether that’s a 50-over game or Twenty20, it doesn’t bother us.’Clarke’s only problem with the match is selecting the team, which could be different depending on the size of the game.His counterpart Mashrafee bin Murtaza, who like most other member of the team never played in Brisbane, also echoed the same word.Desperate for a full 50-over match, a frustrated Mashrafee said the chance of a curtailed-over match made it difficult to find his right combination.‘It is difficult to say right now. Twenty-over match, Australia even better, I think,’ he said.‘We don’t know how many overs you’re going to play. So it is also difficult to pick the right team, as well. ‘So everything is going to be difficult.’

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