I have told the ECB that I am ready to go: Stuart Broad

The England team is currently divided in two opinions regarding the tour of Bangladesh. The England Cricket Board has already given a go ahead but has left the decision on the players whether to they would like to travel to the Asian country or not. Players are slowly opening up. A few have shown no concerns while a few have some reservations.

Stuart Broad, too, faced the dilemma, but it seems that he has made up his mind has decided to join Test skipper Alastair Cook on the tour.

“It has been a really difficult decision about whether to tour Bangladesh but on balance I believe it’s the right thing to do and I have told the ECB that I am ready to go.

“It’s been on all of our minds since July when the terrorist attack happened in Dhaka and none of us have taken our decisions lightly.

England has been in such trickier situation in the past. The 2008 Mumbai attacks was one such occasion where the England team faced the problem of making the tough call of whether to go ahead of with the schedule or to drop the plans and return home.

“Whenever security is on the agenda it becomes a big decision. A few of us have been in this position before when we went back to India in 2008 following the Mumbai attacks.”

“Some of my friends and family have asked me why we’d put ourselves in such a difficult situation with the level of security we’re going to face just to play a game of cricket. But the world is a changing place and there is risk almost anywhere you go these days. It’s a sad reality.”

“The ECB have assured us it is safe to go and people’s jobs will depend on keeping us safe. That is a big commitment, they’ve put their necks on the line to an extent and Reg Dickason, the head of security, is a man I trust and who has unrivalled knowledge of this area.”

“I’ve chatted a lot to guys like Jimmy (Anderson) and Cooky (Alastair Cook) and all the boys have spent a lot of time deliberating with phone calls going on left, right and centre.

It’s going to be a tough tour, no doubt about it. But, after a long summer of deliberating, once it was decided an England team would definitely be going following the security recce a couple of weeks back then I was always going to go.

One-day captain Eoin Morgan is set to stay at home while Alex Hales has raised his concerns following the recent terror attack on a bakery in Dhaka. Broad, however, feels that that they should allowed to make their personal decisions.

Having said that, I do have sympathy for anyone who may decide not to go. It has to be a personal decision.

“If you genuinely feel unsafe and it stresses you out to such an extent that it would impact your mental and physical wellbeing then it’s completely understandable to not put yourself in the position. It’s important we stick together as players and I know there won’t be any questions if certain players decide not to go. It’s not a one-in-all-in, you have to make up your own mind.”

“If you’re really worried, you might go out and get three noughts and do your prospects more harm than by not going. It’s entirely up to the individual and the ECB have said that all along. No-one should be making throwaway comments about it being ridiculous if people don’t tour.”

“The players are in a really awkward position and the whole issue has taken up a great deal of thinking time over the past few months and a lot of phone calls. Our families are genuinely concerned and we have to consider that.”

“One of the biggest challenges for a professional sportsman is being able to cut out distractions and focus on the job in hand. This is going to be a big test on that front but I believe, with all my experience, I’ll be able to do that.”