The Australian cricket team was "dealt a scare" by an incident following play on day one in Chittagong, Bangladesh, when a projectile was thrown at the team's bus as it returned to the Australian contingent's hotel, according to Daniel Cherny of THE AGE. No players or officials were hurt in the incident, which Cricket Australia suspects was "caused by a small rock or stone thrown by a child." Only minor damage was caused to the bus, but security has been "beefed up around the team on Tuesday as a result of the incident." CA Head of Security Sean Carroll -- who is with the team in Chittagong -- explained what happened. He said, "En route back to the hotel last night. a window on the Australian team bus was broken. No one was injured in the incident." The entire Australian contingent -- including traveling media -- have been "getting a convoy to and from the ground both in Dhaka, where the first Test was held, and Chittagong" (THE AGE, 9/5). REUTERS' Chakraborty & Qadir reported Carroll said that Bangladesh authorities "were taking the incident seriously and security had been increased along the route on which the team travels between the ground and its hotel." Bangladeshi authorities, however, suggested the incident "could have been an accident." Chittagong Division Police Commissioner Mohammad Iqbal Bahar said that another vehicle escorting the team bus "could have kicked up a loose rock, which hit the bus window." Bahar said, "We inquired into it yesterday. Construction works are going on along the route and one of the escorting vehicles sent the rock flying into the window of the team bus" (REUTERS, 9/5).
PAKISTAN T20: The BBC reported former England cricket captain Paul Collingwood said that he hopes the World XI Twenty20 tour in Pakistan "can be a significant step" in int'l cricket returning to the country. Collingwood is part of a World XI squad that will play in Lahore on Sept. 12, 13 and 15. It will be the first int'l cricket in Pakistan "since the attack on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore" in '09. Collingwood said, "Getting home games again, although there is a little way to go, would be a big thing" (BBC, 9/5).
