Published: Jan 05, 2016, 12:58 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 05, 2016, 01:23 PM (IST)
Australia have decided to pull from the ICC Under-19 World Cup, to held in Bangladesh due to concerns over player safety. Last year Australian national cricket team had also postponed their scheduled tour of Bangladesh in October due to security concerns. Cricket Australia (CA) have been constantly monitoring the situation since then. Sean Carroll, CA’s head of security met with cricket and government officials in Bangladesh a week back, before reporting to the details to the Australian board. After consultation with the Australian government this decision has been taken to withdraw from the tournament reports News Ltd.
Australia was named in Group D for the 16-nation tournament, which was to start in Chittagong on January 27 , along with India, Nepal and New Zealand in the group. The 15-man member squad will be traveling to Dubai as per set scheduled for a tri-series of matches against New Zealand and Pakistan, with Australia’s first match on January 10. International Cricket Council after Australia pull out have invited the Cricket Ireland to fill in the position of Australia in Group D. ICC Chief Executive David Richardson has assured all participating nations that ICC will ensure safety and well fare of all players, official and have all security measures in place for a successful event to take place.
CA last year was forced to postpone their tour of Bangladesh 2015, due to security reasons. According to a media release in October, the chief executive officer of CA, James Sutherland informed that a ‘recent advice from the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and CA’s Head of Security about an increasing security risk for the Australian team in Bangladesh meant this month’s matches could not proceed’.
ICC invites @irelandcricket to replace @CAComms in the #u19cwc, which is scheduled to run from 27 January to 14 February.
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) January 5, 2016
ICC confident that the proposed security arrangements for #u19cw will adequately address the identified risks, adds Richardson
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) January 5, 2016
ICC takes its responsibilities around safety & security of ICC events extremely seriously, says ICC Chief Executive David Richardson #CWC
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) January 5, 2016
DFAT’s warning was again replicated this week after the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, set out warning for their citizens of possible militant attacks in Bangladesh.
