England focused on cricket not security

Andrew Strauss believes England are ready to move on from the controversies that have plagued the build-up to their tour of Bangladesh.

The trip was only given the green light by the England and Wales Cricket Board's highly-regarded Australian security advisor Reg Dickason last month after it was put in serious jeopardy by a terrorist attack at a Dhaka cafe in July that claimed the lives of 29 people.

While limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan and batsman Alex Hales withdrew from the tour due to security fears, Strauss thinks the off-field issues will fade into the background once the action gets under way.

The ECB director, who arrived alongside the England team in the Bangladeshi capital on Friday evening, can relate to the situation, having played in India shortly after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

He said: "It was a long journey to get here, both physically and metaphorically. Quite rightly the players had concerns over security and Reg Dickason has done a fantastic job allaying those fears and those concerns.

"It was just great to see the guys in a positive frame of mind when they met up at the airport.

"Once the decision's made I think you get to the stage where you leave it to the people who are looking after that sort of stuff to do that and your concern as a player is about preparing yourself properly and making sure, come the start of of the one-day series, you're ready to go.

"That's the impression I've been given so far from the players and it's certainly the experience I went through in India in 2008."


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Source: AAP



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