England flew out of Dhaka today (Wed) with security chief Reg Dickason adding his congratulations to Bangladesh – in his case for their off-field efforts in delivering a safe, enjoyable and ultimately historic month of cricket.
The build-up to the tour had been dominated by security concerns following the terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka in July, and widespread speculation over whether the England team would or should travel.
But Dickason, the no-nonsense Australian who is respected and trusted for his security advice after two decades working in the game, had already been impressed by Bangladesh’s successful delivery of the ICC Under-19 World Cup earlier in the year.
After a further fact-finding trip with ECB director of operations John Carr and David Leatherdale, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, he reassured the England players and officials that there was no reason the tour could not go ahead.
Everyone involved in Bangladesh cricket will always be grateful that it did, and the positive impact of England’s visit surely stretches beyond even that, after exciting and fluctuating series in both one-day and Test formats.
“I’ve been working in international sport for 20 years and what you’ve seen here, and the government input, is as good as I’ve ever seen,” said Dickason. “It’s certainly the gold standard at the moment.
“The story probably starts with the risk assessment we did in December for the Under-19 World Cup which was held here in January. The main purpose of that was to see if it was safe for that event to go ahead, and we deemed it was.
“We came out here and saw what the Bangladesh Board and the Government was actually going to provide. We had the documents, but we wanted to see what they were going to do. That went very well, and they did everything they said they were going to do.
“Then on July 2, there was the tragic attack on the Holey Bakery, so again we were in a position where we had to consider what the level of security should be for this tour.
“I came out again with John Carr and David Leatherdale, and we met with all the stakeholders – the Board, the police, intelligence authorities, three overseas diplomatic missions, and the Prime Minister. So based on what we were told, and what we had witnessed in the Under-19s World Cup, with some degree of confidence we decided this tour should go ahead. That was the recommendation.
“I’m always concerned, I’m conservative by nature, and there’s a fairly heavy responsibility with people’s safety. We got out just before the team and with the help of the Bangladesh Board we made sure things were going to be done exactly as they said they were. We’ve been very happy with the level of security.”
Dickason also thanked the Bangladesh people for accepting the disruption necessitated by the security response, especially the armed convoys that transported players and officials from their hotels to the grounds.
“It is a sacrifice,” he added. “We’ve probably inconvenienced them. Certainly our players and our tour group are very conscious of that – that’s why you’ll find we’re always on time. If we’re a minute late we’ll probably inconvenience another 100,000 people. But the Bangladeshi people have been absolutely sensational.”
With that historic Test victory over England to square the series, and the stunning emergence of the teenage offspinner Mehedi Hasan, hopefully they think those sacrifices were worthwhile.