West Indies Withdraw U-19 Cricket Team from Bangladesh Citing Safety Concerns

In what can be seen as a major setback for Bangladesh Cricket and its already embattled board, which is due to host Asian powerhouse Sri Lanka for a full series from January, followed by the Asia Cup and the Twenty20 World Cup in March-April, West Indies U-19 cricket team has pulled out of the tour after a bomb blast near the team hotel in Chittagong.

The country has been rocked by violent protest and blockades, initiated by the opposition party demanding removal of the current government setup. There have been more than 60 causalities since last month and on the advice of security manager Paul Slowe, the West Indies cricket team has decided to pull their team out.

In a statement, the West Indies Cricket board said;

“The report emphasized that the current security environment in Bangladesh is not conducive to the playing of cricket in light of the 72 hours nationwide blockade and calls for countrywide dawn to dusk protest,” the WICB said.

“Travel arrangements are being made to allow for the team’s return to the Caribbean as quickly as possible.

“The team will remain safely accommodated at the team hotel under adequate security protection until departure from Bangladesh.”

There hasn’t been any response from  the Bangladesh Cricket officials so far.

– Image courtesy: thestar.com

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Posted by Ahmad Mehdi on Dec 9 2013. Filed under South Asia, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.