ECB confirms tour of Bangladesh after security assessment

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Thursday that England’s five week tour of Bangladesh, which was under serious doubts, will proceed as per schedule.

Security concerns were raised following a terrorist attack by Islamic militants on a Dhaka café on July 1 which claimed 22 lives, 20 of which were foreigners. The impact of the attack on the nation’s capital was immediately visible as the ECB indicated that they were prepared to cancel the tour of Bangladesh if they or the British government deemed the security situation in Bangladesh unsafe come the squad’s scheduled departure date. However after conducting a risk assessment, the ECB has now agreed to send its players to the country.

Players, including test captain Alastair Cook and one-day international captain Eoin Morgan, were briefed on Thursday.

“Safety and security of players and management are always paramount,” England director of cricket Andrew Strauss said after the meeting.

“We’ve received a thorough risk assessment, had excellent insight into the current situation and been fully briefed on security commitments.

“ECB and PCA (Professional Cricketers’ Association) have the utmost confidence in the advice and support we’ve been given.”

England are due to arrive in Bangladesh on September 30 for a month-long tour including three one-day internationals and two Test matches. The series will be followed by a visit to India in early November for a five-test series.

Bangladesh, unfortunately, has missed a considerable amount of cricketing action due security reasons in the past. The recent incident occurred when Cricket Australia kept its Under 19 boys away from the ICC Under World Cup which was successfully hosted in the country.