England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that the national team's tour of Bangladesh would go on as per schedule. An ECB delegation, led by security adviser Reg Dickason, accompanied by director of cricket operations John Carr and David Leatherdale of the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) recently visited both Bangladesh and India to make their own security assessment. Following their return, the ECB said that the three One Day Internationals and two Tests which England are due to play in Bangladesh in October and November, before heading to India, were set to go ahead as scheduled.
England players - including Test captain Alastair Cook and One-Day captain Eoin Morgan were briefed on arrangements and the risk assessment by Reg Dickason, alongside Andrew Strauss, David Leatherdale, John Carr and ECB Chief Executive Tom Harrison.
Strauss, England's director of cricket, said the green signal was given after a thorough risk assessment. "England's Tour of Bangladesh will continue as planned. Safety and security of players and management are always paramount. We've received a thorough risk assessment, had excellent insight into the current situation and been fully briefed on security commitments. ECB and PCA have the utmost confidence in the advice and support we've been given.
Eoin Morgan, England's limited-overs captain, had recently stated that no player will be forced to go on any particular tour and had expressed his confidence that ECB would take the right decision. Safety concerns in Bangladesh were raised after a terror attack that took place in a Dhaka cafe on July 1 which had left 20 dead. In July, the ECB had noted that it would consider government's guidelines about the proposed tour following the terror attack.
Earlier in October 2015, Australia had decided against sending their senior side for two Tests after a terror threat while the Under-19 team also didn't participate in the World Cup in January-February 2016.
