Asia Cup for 2012 confirmed

The next Asia Cup will be played in Dhaka from March 1 to 11, 2012.

At a meeting in Bangladesh on Sunday December 12 of the Asian Cricket Council Executive Board, the decision was taken to hold the 11th Asia Cup at Mirpur Stadium in Bangladesh. It will be the third time that the Asia Cup has been held in the country. India are defending champions, having won Micromax Asia Cup 2010 and will again take on the hosts and Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the 2012 event.

Asian Cricket Council President and Bangladesh Cricket Board President Mustafa Kamal MP said "I am delighted that Bangladesh will host the next Asia Cup during my term as ACC President. It is always an event which carries a great deal of prestige as we search for Asia's champions.?

During the ACC Executive Board Meeting in Dhaka it was also decided that a series of Men's A Team, U-19 and Academy Team tournaments will take place from 2011 which will encompass the four Test-playing nations and four qualifiers from the ACC Associate and Affiliate nations. A Women's tournament will also be held on the same basis among the Test-playing nations and four others from the ACC region.

"These are exciting times for the cricketers of Asia, they are closer than ever to playing top-flight cricket against the very best and we look forward to the emergence of a number of countries that can compete with the Test-playing nations at youth and A Team level. We are grateful that the Test-playing countries are taking such an interest and expanding their spheres of activity. The development of the other nations will go apace with the advances in the Test-playing countries, nevertheless, if a country like Afghanistan can sustain its current success - and that is the real test of development - and if other countries can match them - within a number of years I can see the Asia Cup being credibly expanded to being more than just the top four countries," says ACC Chief Executive Syed Ashraful Huq.