Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana has hit out at what she says were unsafe playing conditions during her side’s nine-wicket loss to the White Ferns in Dunedin on Monday.
The Women’s World Cup game was meant to start at 11am but rain meant play did not get under way until 3pm. There was light drizzle on and off for most of the match and the conditions got increasingly gloomy as the day wore on.
"I think first of all I would like to say this is not the good playable condition," Sultana said in a press conference.
"There was a lot of rain ... but still we played over there. And sometimes the bowlers couldn't bowl the ball and the fielder couldn’t watch the ball very well, and I was a bit worried about the safety of my fielders because we have five more matches to go."
Sultana felt the conditions deteriorated and questioned umpires Paul Wilson and Claire Polosak whether the match should continue.
"They kept saying that you should continue the game. On the field, I don't have much to do in that case.
"But off the field, we can work on this as much as we can and talk to [whoever to] minimise it.
"Definitely, we will let the match referee know if the condition is like this or what we can do next time to make it better."
Sultana said it was practically impossible to replace an injured player because of the distance and the required quarantine period.
"So from that perspective, I think that players' safety and security are more important."
