Morgan, Hales withdraw from Bangladesh tour

Eoin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, will not travel to Bangladesh to lead the team in their one-day series due to concerns about security, the ECB has confirmed. Opening batsman Alex Hales has also ruled himself out of the tour for the same reasons.

Jos Buttler, the team’s vice-captain, will take charge in Morgan’s absence, with squads for the three ODIs and two Tests set to be announced on Friday. Morgan and Hales were foremost among the players to have spoken of their uncertainty about going to Bangladesh, after a terrorist attack in July, and communicated their intentions to Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, at the weekend.

“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,” Strauss said. “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.”

Morgan was reported to have told Strauss he would not be going to Bangladesh before the players went for their end-of-season assessments at Loughborough on Friday and Saturday. Those in line for selection were given until this weekend to …

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