Coronavirus: Australia tour of Bangladesh postponed

• Aussies skipper in longest format of the game over a week ago hinted at the postponement of the tour.
• Australia's tour of Bangladesh was slated to count for points in the new World Test Championship (WTC).

Australia tour of Bangladesh for two-match Test series has officially been postponed due to coronavirus pandemic.

Aussies skipper in longest format of the game over a week ago hinted at the postponement of the tour. Today (Thursday), boards of both nations have agreed it will be impossible to stage the Tests as planned due to the fallout from the global health crisis.

The real challenge for the officials to find window to reschedule the series in already crammed international calendar.

Australia's tour of Bangladesh was slated to count for points in the new World Test Championship (WTC), the inaugural final of which has been penned in for June next year.

Australia face a busy 2020-21 summer that is scheduled to include the ICC T20 World Cup, home Tests against Afghanistan and India, home and away ODI campaigns against New Zealand and a Test tour of South Africa, meaning there is precious little space in the calendar between mid-October and the start of April.

Players usually free in months of April and May, with many leading Aussies cricketers spend time on leave or play T20 tournaments.

Cricket Australia and Cricket New Zealand have also flagged their intention to reschedule the two ODIs and three T20s that were cancelled last month due to the global outbreak.

Boards can reschedule series through bilateral agreement, but the impending WTC final will add an extra layer of complication for nations looking to reorganise Test matches.