The Bangladesh Cricket Board "has ruled out using a neutral venue" for its home series against England, should the visiting team cancel its tour of the south Asian country, according to Nivedita Shankar of REUTERS. Concerns have been raised "over the security of the tour in the wake of the attack on a Dhaka restaurant" that left 20 dead on July 1. England limited overs captain Eoin Morgan has called it a "big concern" and believes using a neutral venue to host the three one day internationals and two Tests is a "feasible" option. Bangladesh's neighbor Pakistan has played the majority of its home matches at neutral venues in the Middle East in recent years "due to safety fears back home." However, BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury ruled out Bangladesh following suit. He said, "We always believe this (neutral) is never a solution. Cricket cannot stop in a country. The cricket operations of both BCB and ECB (England & Wales Cricket Board) are in continuous communication regarding the England tour of Bangladesh in October" (REUTERS, 7/11). CRICKET WORLD's Manuj Sharma reported the ECB "will undertake a security review of the venues in Bangladesh" and will rely on government advice before giving the team "a green signal to continue with the tour." Chowdhury revealed that a security visit "was slated to happen in June" but since England also tours India after the visit to Bangladesh, "the ECB wanted to do both the inspections at the same time." Disclosing that the guidelines related to security protocol will be given by the Int'l Cricket Council in due course of time, Chowdhury said that Bangladesh has a "good track record" of hosting int'l tournaments. Chowdhury: "The security issue has already been discussed at different levels in the ICC" (CRICKET WORLD, 7/11).
