The Bangladesh cricket faithful have been mightily surprised and are finding it hard to accept Cricket Australia’s decision to postpone its tour of Bangladesh on security grounds.
Protests and disagreements over the issue by the Bangladesh supporters are understandable but what is perhaps attracting all the attention is that even the Australians, including media personnel, are mocking CA’s decision.
Australia’s 15-man Test squad were scheduled to fly out to Bangladesh last Monday morning but were later asked to delay their flight after the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade informed CA that they had “credible information” about possible security risks in the south Asian country.
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BCB is often criticised and ridiculed for some of their controversial moves and decisions but cricket’s governing body in the country earned heaps of praises this time around as it left no stones unturned in its bid to convince CA of fool-proof security. The three-member CA delegation were assured of high-level security which is usually reserved for the head of a state, but to no avail. This left many to ponder if there were any other reasons behind CA’s decision to postpone the tour. Several legion of Tigers fans were even drawing up interesting conspiracy theories.
The Bangladesh fans gained more voice after the nation’s security ranking was revealed recently. According to renowned US public-opinion analyst Gallup, Bangladesh is one of the world’s safest countries to travel. As far as individual security is concerned, Bangladesh ranks 30th in the world, ahead of Australia itself, the USA, Italy, France and India.
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In its latest travel advice, DFAT has not barred its citizens from travelling to Bangladesh. Rather, such travel restrictions are applicable for visits to 12 countries such as Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
And with regards to visits in less-risky countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran and Lebanon, advice for the Australians is – Reconsider your need to travel.
The Gallup report, titled “The World Law and Order Index 2015”, was published on September 24 this year. According to the survey, Singapore is one of the most safest places and top-scores with 89 points.
Bangladesh, Japan and New Zealand all boast the same score (78 points). The USA and Australia, meanwhile, are placed at 38th and 39th place respectively.
Under such circumstances, it is quite usual for the fans to raise their eyebrows with CA’s decision and wonder if anything else had influenced the board’s decision.