Tight-lipped but appreciative

“It is always our routine to visit all countries before we tour.” England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) director of cricket operations John Carr told reporters after visiting the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.  The ECB's three-man delegation's visit however assumes special significance in light of the July 1 terror attacks on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan, which cast security doubts over the England team's tour scheduled for October this year.

Carr expressed his satisfaction and appreciation for the cooperation of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) but said that they were not in a position to make any public commitments.

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“We are here for three days, seeing all the facilities -- hotels and cricket grounds. We are meeting with the security providers. We are grateful to the BCB and the government for their cooperation and assistance. We have been here for more than 24 hours now. We are heading off to Chittagong tomorrow.

“We won't be saying anything specific about findings. We have to go back and report to the ECB before anything is made public,” said Carr.

When his attention was drawn to Bangladesh's track record of successfully staging many international events, Carr said: “We are aware very much of the provisions of the recent ICC events. Reg Dickason has been with the team in Bangladesh before. We are aware of security provisions in recent times provided by the Bangladesh government.”

BCB's media committee chairman Jalal Yunus, who accompanied the delegation during the second day of their visit, said: “Our board president [Nazmul Hassan Papon] and some of our directors had a meeting and a dinner with the delegation last night [Wednesday] where we gave them the detailed plans. Our board president appraised everything. Today they met with different concerned security agencies and our home ministry. They will go to Chittagong tomorrow and then visit Fatullah the next day as it is the venue of a practice game.”

England are scheduled to land in Dhaka on September 30 to play two Tests and three ODIs in Dhaka and Chittagong, before heading off to India for a full series there.