Around 100 England fans, popularly known as the Barmy Army, have already expressed their desire to cheer Michael Vaughan's team that will fly in Dhaka on October 8 to play two Tests and three one-day internationals.

"We are receiving encouraging responses from the English fans. Around a hundred have already sent their papers to us for tickets and hotel reservations," Bangladesh Cricket Board's secretary for Tickets and Seating Committee Tariq Chowdhury told The Daily Star yesterday.

The presence of the lively band of English fans will certainly add colour to England's maiden tour of Bangladesh.

"We will definitely offer them the best possible hospitality," said Tariq adding that they were planning to allocate the merry Englishmen in the Executive Enclosure underneath the media box of the big bowl.

"Presently we have 80 seats in that enclosure. I hope they will enjoy the view from that part of the stadium," said Tariq who also informed that each English fan will have to pay Taka 400 to watch a Test match and Taka 700 for a one-dayer in Dhaka.

The secretary of the sitting committee also disclosed that they have fixed the rates of two types of hospitality boxes at the BNS. The cost of an AC box is Taka 60,000 while a non-AC will cost Taka 40,000.

Rate of tickets for the western and eastern galleries have been fixed at Taka 40 and 30 respectively for the two one-day matches.

Meanwhile, the western part of the International Gallery will be kept vacant during the entire England tour as renovation works are going on in that part.

The first Test will start at the BNS on October 20. The second and third one-day matches, both day-nighters, will also be played here on November 10 and 12.

Chittagong will host the second Test starting on October 29. The first one-day international on November 7 will also be held in the port city.