“At the moment I would assume that we would be playing two Tests over there”
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Australia are highly likely to visit Bangladesh for a two-Test series later on this year unless the security situation in the country becomes worse.
Australia were initially supposed to tour Bangladesh in October last year, but postponed their trip as the Australian government told them that they faced “high risks” if the tour went ahead.
At that time, the travel warning issued by the Australian government said that there was “reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Australian interests in Bangladesh”. That has now been changed to “Western interests” rather than “Australian interests”.
When asked about the chances of the tour being given the green light, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland told ABC radio: “I think they’re quite high. What we saw at the end of last year was the England team tour Bangladesh. We certainly saw very strong security around the team. We actually sent our head of security, Sean Carroll, over to observe for seven or ten days, just to get a little bit of comfort on the systems and processes that were in place.
“Anything can happen between now and then, and we continue to monitor what’s happening in Bangladesh, but we work on the assumption that we’re going to play and we start to plan accordingly. But we certainly get a good deal of comfort from the way in which the security measures were put in place by the Bangladesh government, in conjunction with the cricket board over there. At the moment I would assume that we would be playing two Tests over there.”
While no official dates have been confirmed, Sutherland pointed out that the tour is likely to take place in August or September.
Australia last visited Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series in April 2011, but have not played a Test series in the country since 2006.
“I think it is important for us,” Sutherland said about the tour. “The fundamental for us is that safety comes first, the safety of our players and officials, and all of that. We’ll make those judgments accordingly. At the same time, we have made decisions in the past to postpone a tour of Bangladesh. We were also the only team not to send a team to the Under-19 World Cup, which was held in Bangladesh not long afterwards.
“Whilst there’s pressure for us to get back on the horse, so to speak, and to travel to Bangladesh, we won’t be compromising anything in our reviews and understanding, and getting to a level of satisfaction that the security measures are appropriate and at the level we need and want.”