Sports Desk:

There was barely time to unpack before the Bangladesh U-19 players are back on the road. Fresh from winning back-to-back tri-series titles in Zimbabwe, Azizul Hakim Tamim’s young side is now gearing up for a tour of England next month.

The squad returned to Dhaka last week after seeing off both South Africa and the hosts in Harare.

In just over two weeks, they’ll be boarding a flight again — August 31 is the departure date — but not before a short training camp at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

The tour opens with a warm-up against Ireland U-19s on September 3, followed by the five-match ODI series against England. Matches are set for September 5, 7, 10, 12 and 14, a BCB official confirmed.

For Tamim, the trip offers a different kind of test. “I think it’s going to be a really exciting series,” he said. “We’ll try our best to perform well. The rest is in Allah’s hands.”

Beyond the immediate results, the series will give Bangladesh’s youngsters valuable time in English conditions — learning to cope with seam, swing and the cooler weather — all of which could come in handy at next year’s ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.