Cricket Australia yesterday withdrew their team from the upcoming Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, starting from January 27, citing security reasons.
Earlier in October, Australia also cancelled its senior team’s month-long tour of Bangladesh due to “security risks” after their government had issued a high alert with regards to its citizens in Bangladesh.
“Regrettably, the advice from our government suggests that the security threat to Australians travelling to Bangladesh remains as high now as it was when we postponed the Test team’s tour of that country late last year.
“Included in that is reliable information suggesting there is a high threat to Australian interests in Bangladesh and the knowledge that the Australian government has authorised the dependants of posted diplomatic staff in Bangladesh to return home to Australia,” said James Sutherland, CEO of Cricket Australia.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) expressed disappointment over Australia’s decision to withdraw their team from the global event.
Through a media release yesterday the ICC announced Ireland, the runner-up of the qualifying event, as the replacement.
“The ICC takes its responsibilities around the safety and security of ICC events extremely seriously. And taking into consideration the full and unequivocal support of the Bangladesh government that has been afforded to us at the highest level and through all local security agencies, the advice we have received from our own and independent security experts, and the robust security plan that has been developed, the ICC remains of the view that it is appropriate for event planning to continue as scheduled,” said ICC Chief Executive David Richardson.
Meanwhile, BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said: “Actually, it is disappointing for us despite assurance of the highest security measurements from the top government officials earlier. As its an ICC event, we cannot comment any further regarding the issue and we accepted the decision. However, being the host nation our main goal is to stage a successful tournament.”
