Saber Hossain Chowdhury, the former Bangladesh Cricket Board president, has become one of 2,000 civilians to be arrested in a single police operation in the country.
As the then cricket chief in the south east Asian country, Chowdhury was a key figure behind Bangladesh's elevation to Test status two years ago.
He was arrested in a so-called "crackdown on crime" which, according to Amnesty International, requires urgent investigation.
At the International Cricket Council meeting which awarded Test status to Bangladesh in August 2000, Chowdhury had been upbeat about the future for cricket in his country.
He said at the time: "Test cricket has embraced 130 million people to its fold and that is tremendous news for cricket.
"I know good news is at a premium at the moment and I'm glad Bangladesh has featured in that good news."
'Operation Clean Heart' began on 17 October in Bangladesh.
According to Amnesty, there have been allegations of deaths in custody and torture by the army and the police during the campaign.
Chowdhury is a high-ranking figure within the opposition Awami League.
England in Australia
Tour match: Western Australia (156-3) v England 221
Andy Caddick has struck twice after lunch as England begin a delayed fightback in their tour match against Western Australia in Perth.
Caddick, Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard had all toiled against under-strength opposition throughout the morning session.
And their hosts reached lunch at 115-1, Hoggard taking the only wicket.
But, Caddick struck straight after the break, having Chris Rogers caught by Alec Stewart without a run being added to the scorecard and added the wicket of Murray Goodwin quickly afterwards.
England's already injury-hit side, though, receieved a further blow when Marcus Trescothick left the field with an injured shoulder.
England's Andrew Caddick has played down his team's poor performance in the tour match against Western Australia.
The fast bowler was England's top scorer with an unbeaten 62 as they crumbled to 221 all out in the first innings in Perth.
It was the Somerset bowler's highest score for England and fellow paceman Matthew Hoggard added an important 33.
Caddick said England's recognised batsmen had struggled because they were still adjusting to the unique bounce of the lightning-fast WACA wicket.
Caddick said: "I wouldn't say it was embarrassing.
"It's just an eye-opener for the batsmen.
"You've got to remember we've been playing on some up and down wickets, both in England and on the sub-continent, over the past 18 months.
Sri Lanka in South Africa
The touring Sri Lankans will wake up to a dose of their own medicine in Kimberley on Friday morning.
They will be presented with the flattest of flat pitches on the instructions of the national selectors for their opening four-day tour match against South Africa A.
And they will get a repeat dose when they face the Rest of South Africa at Lenasia next weekend. From there they will go straight into Test action on the bouncy pitches of the Wanderers and Centurion.
It is treatment that will bring at least a wry smile to the faces of the South Africans who toured Sri Lanka two years ago. They played their warm-up on a green, seaming pitch before taking on Murali on his normal scarred surface.
Kimberley also marks a momentous occasion in the life of Western Province's rookie fast bowler, Quinton Friend. He emulates Paul Adams in making his South African A debut after just two matches of first-class cricket. It was on the same Kimberley pitch that Adams helped bowl England to destruction in 1995.
Bangladesh in South Africa
Despite taking five for 46 in the second innings to hasten victory in the first Test, South African seam bowler David Terbrugge could lose his spot in the side.
With skipper Shaun Pollock back from injury, the selectors will be forced to leave out one of the bowlers who started at Buffalo Park.
Nantie Hayward was considerably less impressive than Terbrugge in East London, but Pollock has himself publicly backed the blond paceman.
"I thought the criticism of Nantie was a bit harsh," said Pollock after training at the North West Stadium which on Friday becomes the 11th Test venue in the country.
"Nantie's still a young guy. If you look at Allan Donald when he began his Test career he was also a little wild.
Local journalists are sick and tired of asking him, so the only Bangladesh journalist to make the trip was the one to pose Shaun Pollock the obvious question on Thursday.
"So is it difficult to motivate your side to play against a much weaker team?" came the question. Pollock's media relations have improved ten-fold this season from his rather standard fare of the past.
Even his improved communication skills, however, can hardly jazz up the prospect of a Test match against Bangladesh. So he reverted to the classic sidestep his beloved Sharks backline could have used last weekend.
"I don't think it should be difficult," Pollock ventured, "they're a Test team and we've got to respect them for that, it's important we play well," the South African skipper added in ultra-polite vein.
It's difficult, however, for anyone really to get too excited about Friday's second Test, the last match of the Bangladesh series.
