Morgan has opted not to travel to Bangladesh
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England limited overs captain Eoin Morgan and opening batsman Alex Hales have withdrawn from the upcoming tour of Bangladesh due to security concerns.
Morgan and Hales were uncomfortable about the security situation in Bangladesh following the terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka in July, which left 20 people dead.
The pair conveyed their decisions to Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, over the weekend.
With Morgan having ruled himself out, Jos Buttler will captain England’s limited overs squad during the tour.
“Whilst we understand and respect Eoin and Alex’s decision, we are disappointed that they have made themselves unavailable for selection for the Bangladesh tour,” Strauss said. “We have had open and honest conversations with all the players about the security arrangements in Bangladesh and at this stage we are not expecting any other individuals to withdraw from the tour. Final selection for the Bangladesh tour, will now take place on Friday.
“As with all England overseas tours, the safety and security of players and staff is of the utmost importance to ECB. We will continue to monitor the situation in Bangladesh, take advice and consider the appropriate steps up to and throughout the five weeks we are on tour.”
Strauss firmly believes that it is “100% safe” to tour Bangladesh after a three-member delegation – ECB’s security advisor Reg Dickason, David Leatherdale, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, and ECB director of cricket operations John Carr – inspected the facilities in the subcontinent nation.
“A thorough and detailed risk assessment was approved and accepted by the ECB board and the England players and management have been fully briefed on all aspects of the safety and security arrangements,” an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement, released on Sunday, said.
Last week, Morgan spoke of previous security scares he endured while playing in the subcontinent. He spoke about a bomb going off while he was participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2010 and also opened up about the political unrest in Bangladesh when England toured the country in 2013.
“I have been to places before when things have become a distraction and once or twice when that has been security, and when it has been I told myself I would not put myself in that situation again,” Morgan had said. “Playing international cricket – or any cricket – is not about worrying about different things, it should be the best time of your life, it should be something that you are looking forward to and wanting to do well in and are able to focus on.”