Australia pulls out of U-19 Bangladesh World Cup

The under-19 World Cup is scheduled to start from January 27 and Australia’s withdrawal takes away quite a bit of sheen from the tournament. Australia’s senior men’s side had postponed their tour of Bangladesh in October due to security concerns and Cricket Australia (CA) Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said it has been monitoring the situation in the country ever since. 

CA’s Head of Security Sean Carroll travelled to Dhaka last week with ICC security advisors to meet with relevant officials, and seek further travel advice from Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade representatives based in Bangladesh. “We have always maintained that the safety and security of Australian teams and officials is our number-one priority,” Sutherland said. 

“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,” he added. 

“In the end, with all of the information and advice we have received, we feel we had no alternative other than to make this difficult decision,” he said.