ECB delegation completes Bangladesh security inspection

The ECB delegation left Dhaka on Saturday evening with its host hopeful of England's tour of Bangladesh going ahead as scheduled in October. The delegation inspected venues in Mirpur, Chittagong and Fatullah, giving special attention to detail when looking at the venues and hotels in Mirpur and Chittagong. The three-member delegation also had meetings with intelligence agencies and BCB officials in Dhaka, and were shown the security plan for the tour at the home ministry.

A top official at the home ministry said the delegation was happy with the plan. The BCB, however, refrained from any overly confident statements before hearing from its English counterpart.

The delegation included the ECB's security advisor Reg Dickason, Professional Cricketers' Association chief executive David Leatherdale and the ECB's director of cricket operations John Carr, and arrived in Bangladesh after completing a venue inspection for England's tour of India later in the year.

The BCB's media committee chairman Jalal Yunus said: "We will know whether it was a positive tour for them when they report back to the ECB. They will decide only then. They visited all the hotels and ground facilities, and were briefed about security.

"There's no time frame, and we won't put any pressure. They took everything quite seriously here, and spoke to nearly everyone, including the country's security intelligence. They were given a detailed security plan at the home ministry."

England's tour of Bangladesh is scheduled to begin on September 30, and includes three ODIs and two Tests.

Yunus also said that Bangladesh's top government officials were aware of the developments, but did not comment on whether government-to-government contact had been established regarding the tour. The need for such an assurance from the Bangladesh government towards the UK is being discussed as a necessity, given the July 1 attack in Dhaka.

England's tour is set to be the maiden bilateral Test and ODI series in Bangladesh this year. So far this year, international cricket in Bangladesh has included the Under-19 World Cup, T20Is against Zimbabwe, and the Asia Cup.