International Cricket Council will be sending a team to Bangladesh to assess the anti-terrorist steps in place there to for the under-19 World Cup there. Reg Dickason, the security adviser for the ECB, will be part of the team. The move comes as the ICC confronts a series of safety issues in the subcontinent and awaits final arrangements for the World Twenty20 in India, which is still without a schedule, although it is less than five months away and may be cut from eight to five venues. With Pakistan ruled out because of concerns of teams, the ICC is keen that concerns over a second Test-playing country can be allayed to allow the youth tournament to go ahead in January.
An ICC statement confirmed that Bangladesh will be the hosts, but that is likely to change if Dickason, who also advises players via the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, deems the present climate too dangerous.
Sean Norris, the ICC security manager, is heading the trip at the start of next month, which is being taken so seriously that David Richardson, the ICC chief executive, may travel too. Sri Lanka is a possible alternative venue, although there is no official plan B.
Australia scrapped their scheduled tour of Bangladesh this month after a late alert and the murder of an Italian charity worker, for which Islamic State claimed responsibility. South Africa postponed a visit by their women’s team. The UK Foreign Office refers to “a high threat from terrorism” and advises tourists to keep away from all public spaces and limit attendance at events where westerners may gather.
England’s men are due to tour Bangladesh next autumn, but players would be highly reluctant to travel if the present conditions continue there. Four English players - Dawid Malan, Chris Jordan, Josh Cobb and Darren Stevens - were selected to play in next month’s Bangladesh Premier League, but the Professional Cricketers’ Association is likely to caution them if they take up their slots. Jordan is highly unlikely to feature because of England commitments.
Problems around the World Twenty20, due to start on March 11, were compounded when right-wing extremists stormed the Mumbai headquarters of the Board of Control for Cricket in India before scheduled talks with the Pakistan Cricket Board. This prompted the ICC to withdraw Aleem Dar, the umpire, from the one-day series there against South Africa.
Asif Iqbal, a former Pakistan captain, said: “The ICC should be telling India that if the political climate does not show a marked improvement, the ICC will have no alternative but to withdraw the T20 World Cup from India.”
There is next to no chance of that, but Pakistan will be kept away from Mumbai if they decide to participate. Plans to use as many as eight venues for the men’s and women’s competitions - twice as many as in Bangladesh in 2014 - are being reconsidered as expensive and impractical because of the vast distances between locations.
