Security chief starts Bangladesh tour checks
England’s security adviser will tomorrow begin a “thorough-going and robust” inspection of the winter touring destinations that will decide whether they go to Bangladesh in October.
Reg Dickason, a former Melbourne police officer, has worked for several years for the England and Wales Cricket Board and will be trusted to make the call on whether England will tour Bangladesh after a terrorist attack in Dhaka last month.
Dickason is heading for India and then Bangladesh on a two-week trip to look at security arrangements. It is routine for him to check out touring destinations, but the significance of his report will have repercussions on the viability of the Bangladesh tour.
England are due to play three oneday internationals and two Tests in Dhaka and Chittagong, leaving for Bangladesh on Sept 30 and heading straight to India on Nov 2.
Last year, Australia pulled out of a Test tour to Bangladesh and refused to send their team to the Under-19 World Cup held there this year.
England did send a team to the Under-19 World Cup, but the terrorist attack by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on a cafe in Dhaka on July 1, which targeted Westerners and left 29 people dead, immediately threw the tour into doubt.
Eoin Morgan, the England one-day captain, expressed “big concern” over the trip and the ECB said that it would follow government advice. Dickason’s report will be sent to the ECB executive board to make the final decision.
“We will continue to monitor and assess the situation in Bangladesh over the coming weeks and months and will undertake a thorough-going and robust pre-tour inspection of planned security arrangements for the England team,” it said in a statement.
Dickason will demand a high level of security not just at the hotels, but also on the routes to the grounds.