The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that One-Day captain Eoin Morgan and batsman Alex Hales have made themselves unavailable for selection of the tour of Bangladesh in October.
Both players confirmed their decisions to Andrew Strauss, Director of England Cricket, this weekend.
Jos Buttler – the Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman – will captain the One-Day side in Morgan’s absence.
The decision for England to undertake the 5-week tour as scheduled follows a pre-tour ; visit to Bangladesh last month by the ECB’s Director of Security, Reg Dickason, Director of England Cricket Operations John Carr and the Chief Executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, David Leatherdale.
A thorough and detailed risk assessment was approved and accepted by the ECB Board and the England players and management have been fully briefed on all aspects of the safety and security arrangements.
Director of England Cricket, Andrew Strauss, said, “Whilst we understand and respect Eoin and Alex’s decision, we are disappointed that they have made themselves unavailable for selection for the Bangladesh tour.
“We have had open and honest conversations with all the players about the security arrangements in Bangladesh and at this stage we are not expecting any other individuals to withdraw from the tour. Final selection for the Bangladesh tour, will now take place on Friday.
“As with all England overseas tours, the safety and security of players and staff is of the utmost importance to ECB. We will continue to monitor the situation in Bangladesh, take advice and consider the appropriate steps up to and throughout the five weeks we are on tour.”
Travelling on September 29, England will play three one-day internationals and two Test matches in Bangladesh starting on October 7 followed by five Test matches in India throughout November and December.
