England’s tour of Bangladesh on hold
Apr 6, 2019 at 2:16 PM
The proposed tour of England to Bangladesh has been put on hold by the ECB, following issuances from the security department. The situations of recent violence and terrorism have amplified in Bangladesh with foreign nations being time and again attacked. After an intelligence input stated a likely hurdle for England’s tour, a security alert has been issued to ECB, asking the board to put the proposed tour on hold.
England are scheduled to tour Bangladesh later this year, before their full-fledged and all important tour of India. Recently, Australia withdrew their team just 24 hours before their departure to Bangladesh and cancelled the tour, citing security issues for the team. According to a member of the ECB, the England players will be given the choice to skip the tour.
“The safety and security of our players and management is always of paramount importance and this will continue to apply to all teams representing England on overseas tours and attending training camps,” a member of the ECB was quoted saying. “The ECB’s security advisor Reg Dickason and director of cricket operations John Carr are currently completing a pre-tour inspection in Bangladesh. As we have said before, once we have received and evaluated their report, we will discuss it fully with the England players. ”
However, England’s assistant coach Paul Farbrace admitted that the players would only take a call after the security team returns. “We had a chat with the Test and ODI squads about 10 to 12 days ago and we agreed we wouldn’t talk about Bangladesh until the security team gets back and make sa report. Until they get back, there is nothing to talk about.”
“It would be a huge call to decide not to tour. Teams not going to Pakistan is a dreadful shame. I was on a bus in Lahore and we were lucky to survive that. Player and staff safety is paramount but it’s a huge decision for a country to decide not to go. Bangladesh are looking forward to us going,” Farbrace added.