Eng delay naming ODI squad in hope of persuading Morgan
England are to delay naming their one-day squad for the tour to Bangladesh in an effort to buy more time to persuade captain Eoin Morgan to go on the trip.
The selectors were due to sit down and pick the squad the middle of next week after Tuesday’s Twenty20 against Pakistan at Old Trafford, which is the final international fixture of the summer, reports The Telegraph.
But now they are likely to delay it by around a week to allow more time for one-on-one meetings between Andrew Strauss, the team director, and players who have specific fears over the security situation in Bangladesh.
The tour begins with a one-day series and England are due to leave for Bangladesh on Sept 29, with the first of the 50 over matches starting in Dhaka on Oct 7, and captain Morgan’s decision will be closely watched by the other players.
Sources have indicated he has already pulled out of the tour but this has been denied with the board hopeful they can talk him round and allay his concerns.
The players’ wives and girlfriends were given a security briefing by the ECB on Saturday, although as it is unlikely friends and family will go to Bangladesh so the aim would have been more to alleviate fears at home that partners will be safe.
Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket urged supporters intending to follow the team in Bangladesh this autumn to make their own assessment of the situation in the country based on advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Alastair Cook, the Test captain, has told the ECB he will go to Bangladesh although all the players who have spoken publicly about it have been non-committal so far.
Jos Buttler was the first to dodge questions about whether he would go on the tour last week and Alex Hales and Liam Plunkett both admitted before the one-day international at Trent Bride that it is a tough decision.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan advised all the current players of the England team to go on their scheduled tour of Bangladesh and trust the security experts to keep them safe in his column for The Telegraph.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon on August 26 thanked the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to let England's tour of Bangladesh in October to go on as planned.
On August 25, England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed that England’s tour of Bangladesh will continue as planned in an official statement.
England’s Test and one-day tour, which had been placed in doubt after the 1 July terrorist attack in Dhaka in which 20 hostages and two policemen were killed, was confirmed last Thursday following a briefing given to the current 50-over squad by Reg Dickason, the ECB’s security adviser, and Andrew Strauss, the director of cricket.
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