Cricket Australia Chairman James Sutherland announced on Sunday (27th September) that the Australian cricket team will delay their departure to Bangladesh due to security concerns,

Cricket Australia has announced that it is delaying the departure of the Australian cricket team to tour Bangladesh due to security concerns.

Chief excutive James Sutherland said that Cricket Australia's Head of Security, Sean Carroll, has been sent to Bangladesh to make an assessment of the situation.

The tour was due to start with a three-day warm-up match against Bangladesh Cricket Board XI on the 3rd of October.

The first Test is scheduled to begin in Chittagong on the 9th October with the second scheduled to be played in Dhaka on the 17th October.

Script: SOUNDBITE (English) James Sutherland, Cricket Australia chairman:

"We've obviously made a decision overnight to defer the departure of the Australian team for the Bangladesh tour and that was based on advice we received on Friday afternoon from the Department of Foreign Affairs and also ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation).
SOUNDBITE (English) James Sutherland, Cricket Australia chairman:

"Our head of security, Sean Carroll, is on his way to Bangladesh. He'll be arriving very shortly to get an understanding of the state of things there. He'll be with the High Commission in Bangladesh but then also having meetings with the Bangladesh Cricket Board and Bangladesh government officials to get an understanding of where things are at."

SOUNDBITE (English) James Sutherland, Cricket Australia chairman:

"Our position is that we want the tour to go ahead as planned. This has obviously come very suddenly, and we've needed to make this response. Our preferred position is to continue with the tour but the safety and security of our players and staff is the absolute priority, and the first priority for us is to secure that."

SOUNDBITE (English) James Sutherland, Cricket Australia chairman:

"We'll be endeavouring to get some undertakings and understanding of what the situation is in Bangladesh before we make further decisions in regard to the tour."

SOUNDBITE (English) James Sutherland, Cricket Australia chairman:

"This is news that came to us on Friday. The response at this stage is very much to get our head of security on the ground to have conversations - it's actually been a significant religious holiday in Bangladesh over the weekend, so meetings will commence on Monday; we'll have a much better understanding of things there."