Bangladesh board vows to stop crowd trouble

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has said it will increase security at venues and also launch a motivational campaign in order to prevent crowd trouble during matches.

The first ODI between the hosts and Zimbabwe in Mirpur was marred by a bottle-throwing incident during the second innings. Just after Elton Chigumbura hit Abdur Razzak for consecutive fours, a section of the crowd threw plastic bottles onto the field, forcing play to be delayed for a few minutes.

The issue is a matter of concern for the BCB as Bangladesh is a co-host of the 2011 World Cup. "We are taking decisions in accordance with the incident that took place on Tuesday. Definitely the security would be beefed up and the number of security personnel would be increased inside the galleries," Ahmed Sajjadul Alam, BCB's director and organising secretary, told Daily Star.

"We have a very good image as a cricketing nation especially because of our sporting crowd and we know everybody will try to uphold this image. What we believe is that there is a need of an awareness campaign against this kind of ugly activities. We will launch a motivational campaign by distributing leaflets and other activities."

The second one-dayer between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will also be played in Mirpur on Thursday.