The visit of Socceroo to Bangladesh in November 2015, successful staging of Zimbabwean series and BPL having many international players could not create confidence in Cricket Australia (CA) that their Under 19 team can play World Cup in a safe and secure manner.
They have sent a team to discuss with Bangladesh government and security organizations.
Off course, CA has little choice as Australian Government in recent updates has advised Australian citizens about planning visit to Bangladesh carefully.
CA suspended its scheduled Bangladesh visit in October following advice of DFAT. Even the assurance of Bangladesh highest authority at that time for VVIP security arrangement could not convince CA of the safety of its players.
World Cup is an ICC event. It is not a bilateral series. ICC is convinced about the security arrangement Bangladesh assured at eight venues where that mega event will be held.
There has been no past incident of terrorism and insecurity during several mega cricket events held in Bangladesh almost regularly. Within few weeks teams of Asia will play Asia cup. No country has expressed concern so far.
CA team is now in Bangladesh for getting security briefing before confirming participation of Australian team for Under 19 world cup. For ICC supervised events cricket boards do not directly communicate. Everything is conducted through ICC and ICC shoulders the principal responsibility.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is hopeful that CA team will be convinced as Bangladesh will provide bubble tight security. Law and Order situation is under complete control of law enforcers in Bangladesh. Cricket is integral part of life for Bangladeshis now.
BDST: 1519 HRS, DEC 28, 2015
RS/SMS