Morgan and Hales pull out of Bangladesh tour

Sport360 staff 01:31 12/09/2016
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  • Both Morgan and Hales will not tour Bangladesh.

    The England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Sunday night that both players have this weekend informed director Andrew Strauss they are unavailable for the trip, with Jos Buttler replacing Morgan as captain when the team departs at the end of this month.

    The withdrawals of both players have been anticipated for much of the past week, as has the choice of Morgan’s vice-captain Buttler to lead the team in his absence for three ODIs.

    That series, and two subsequent Tests under Alastair Cook’s captaincy, was given the go-ahead last month despite the July terror attack in a Dhaka cafe which resulted in the loss of 29 lives.

    Strauss stressed England “respect and understand” Morgan and Hales’ decision – but added they are nonetheless “disappointed”.

    England do not expect any more players to rule themselves out.

    Hales’ unavailability means he will miss both legs of the tour, and five Tests which immediately follow in India before Christmas – although his selection in the longer format was far from guaranteed in any case.

    Strauss said: “While we understand and respect Eoin and Alex’s decision, we are disappointed that they have made themselves unavailable for selection for the Bangladesh tour.”

    Strauss sought assurances from all those in line for selection that they were prepared to travel during annual appraisals on Friday and Saturday in Loughborough for all players with central or increment contracts.

    “We have had open and honest conversations with all the players about the security arrangements in Bangladesh – and at this stage we are not expecting any other individuals to withdraw from the tour,” Strauss added.

    “Final selection for the Bangladesh tour will now take place on Friday.

    “As with all England overseas tours, the safety and security of players and staff is of the utmost importance to ECB. We will continue to monitor the situation in Bangladesh, take advice and consider the appropriate steps up to and throughout the five weeks we are on tour.”

    England announced last month that the trip could go ahead, only after security expert Reg Dickason returned from a fact-finding mission with a favourable briefing.

    Sunday’s statement made reference to that painstaking exercise, and the security measures which will be put in place to ensure the squad’s safety.

    It read: “The decision for England to undertake the five-week tour as scheduled follows a pre-tour visit to Bangladesh last month by the ECB’s director of security Reg Dickason, director of England Cricket operations John Carr and the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, David Leatherdale.

    “A thorough and detailed risk assessment was approved and accepted by the ECB board, and the England players and management have been fully briefed on all aspects of the safety and security arrangements.”

    Morgan spelled out his concerns last week, citing his previous experience of security alerts in India and Bangladesh – bombs exploding in Bangalore in 2010 and violent unrest while he was playing domestic cricket in Dhaka in 2013.

    The Irishman added he has long promised himself he would never revisit a situation in which such problems prevented him giving cricket his full concentration.

    Test seamer Stuart Broad was among several who publicly confirmed, before the ECB statement, that they were prepared to travel.

    But in his column in the Mail on Sunday, Broad made clear too that he had to think long and hard first.

    “It has been a really difficult decision about whether to tour Bangladesh,” he said.

    “But on balance, I believe it’s the right thing to do …

    “Some of my friends and family have asked me why we’d put ourselves in such a difficult situation, with the level of security we’re going to face, just to play a game of cricket.

    “But the world is a changing place, and there is risk almost anywhere you go these days.”

    Broad understands why others may feel differently.

    “It has to be a personal decision,” he added.

    “If you genuinely feel unsafe and it stresses you out to such an extent that it would impact your mental and physical well-being then it’s completely understandable to not put yourself in the position.

    “It’s entirely up to the individual, and the ECB have said that all along.”

    For England, time is short to pick the right men to fill the gaps left in their powerhouse ODI batting line-up.

    The uncapped Ben Duckett is an obvious option after his prolific season across the formats for Northamptonshire, as is a return to the first-choice team for Jonny Bairstow – but who opens alongside Jason Roy in place of the record-breaking Hales is not clear.

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