ECB delegation returns after inspection in Dhaka

The recent terror attacks in Dhaka had cast a shadow over various bilateral tours to Bangladesh. With England set to tour Bangladesh for 3 ODIs and 2 Tests later next month, a three member ECB delegation inspected venues, hotels and security arrangements in Mirpur, Chittagong and Fatullah for the English tour.

The delegation consisted of ECB’s security advisor Reg Dickason, PCA chief executive David Leatherdale and the ECB’s director of cricket operations John Carr. They arrived in Bangladesh after completing a venue inspection for England’s tour of India later this year.

When asked regarding the feedback from the delegation, BCB official was quoted saying, ‘We will know whether it was a positive tour for them when they report back to the ECB. They will decide only then. They visited all the hotels and ground facilities, and were briefed about security.’

He went on to tell that there wasn’t any time frame, and they didn’t want to put any kind of pressure. “They took everything quite seriously here, and spoke to nearly everyone, including the country’s security intelligence. They were given a detailed security plan at the home ministry.”

Recently, England spearhead James Anderson said that he will accept whatever the security experts decides, “Reg is brilliant at his job and he’s looked after us for the best part of 10 years and David is there with the PCA. We’ll get their feedback when they arrive back. If there are any doubts they will make the call and we trust their ability. These decisions aren’t or really shouldn’t be in the hands of players.”

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If the tour goes ahead as scheduled, this will be a major development for Bangladesh considering Australia pulled out of a tour last year due to security concerns. Also with the new team showing great intent, and on road to qualify for the World Cup 2019 without participating in any qualifiers, there’s a lot in stake for them.