England and Wales Cricket Board director Andrew Strauss is not holding any grudges over the decisions of Eoin Morgan and Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales to withdraw from the tour of Bangladesh due to security fears. Limited-overs captain Morgan and opening batsman Hales were sufficiently unnerved by July’s terror attack at a Dhaka cafe, where 29 people were killed, to opt out of the trip despite ECB security advisor Reg Dickason giving the green light last month. In the immediate aftermath, Strauss admitted he was “disappointed” with their stance, adding the pair had given others an opportunity to stake their place for a permanent slot in the team.
Read more: Alex Hales refuses to tour Bangladesh with England over security concerns2
However, the former England captain respects their decisions and acknowledged it would have been unfair to force anyone to travel to a place where they did not feel comfortable. Strauss, who arrived at England’s team hotel in Dhaka on Friday night amid a heavy security presence, said: “I was disappointed and mainly because I just felt if we got the whole team together, I think that’s a stronger statement.
Alex Hales chose not to tour Bangladesh with England.
“(But) the worst thing you could possibly do is force someone to tour somewhere if they’re really, deeply uncomfortable because they’re not going to perform on the pitch for you anyway.
“I certainly don’t think the players are holding it against them in any way and I’m certainly not either.”
The duo will miss the three one-day internationals, the first of which is next Friday in Dhaka, while Hales seemed likely to lose his spot in the Test side anyway after a disappointing return in the summer series against Pakistan.
Read more: Alex Hales admits fear of losing Test place is influencing decision on England tour of Bangladesh3
Hales’ form in the 50-over format has been electric however, with four hundreds in the last 12 months, while Morgan has overseen a stunning metamorphosis of the one-day team since last year’s World Cup shambles, and both will therefore be in contention for the ODI series against India after Christmas. Strauss said: “One thing you do do when you opt out of a tour is you give someone else an opportunity to stake their claim.
“But both Eoin and Alex have done a lot of really good things for England in the last 12 months or so, and I think Eoin, in particular, as captain has done some fantastic things in terms of instilling this new philosophy
“When we come to select the squad for India, we’re selecting from that full squad again.”
References
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- ^ Alex Hales refuses to tour Bangladesh with England over security concerns (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Alex Hales admits fear of losing Test place is influencing decision on England tour of Bangladesh (www.nottinghampost.com)