Australia withdraw from U19 World Cup 2016

Australia has pulled out of the ICC U19 World Cup 2016 in Bangladesh. Cricket Australia is still concerned over security issues ahead of the global event. Australia’s Test team had postponed their scheduled tour of Bangladesh in October due to security concerns and CA has monitored the situation in the country ever since.

Cricket Australia’s head of security Sean Carroll met with cricket and government officials in Bangladesh last week before reporting back to CA in Melbourne. Having also consulted with the Australian government, the decision was made to withdraw from the tournament as reported by News Ltd. Australia had been named in Group D for the 16-nation tournament – due to start in Chittagong on January 27 – alongside India, Nepal and New Zealand. The 15-man squad will still travel to Dubai as scheduled this week for a tri-series of matches against New Zealand and Pakistan, with Australia’s first match to be on Sunday.

The scheduled departure of Australia’s Test side for their October tour was delayed when the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DAFT) informed CA they had “reliable information” about a possible security risk. The warning came as somewhat of a surprise given South Africa, India and Pakistan had all toured Bangladesh earlier in 2015 without incident. However, DFAT’s warning was quickly replicated this week by the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, who followed suit in warning their citizens of possible militant attacks in Bangladesh.

CA had sent a three-man security delegation to Dhaka to meet with the highest levels of Bangladeshi government and security organisations. After further discussions with the Australian government and the Australian Cricketer’s Association, it was decided that the tour would be postponed. Carroll’s security report was the pivotal element in Australia’s decision in October following advice from the Government and the murder of an Italian diplomat in the capital, Dhaka. South Africa has since twice postponed visits by their women’s team to Bangladesh.