England security chief Reg Dickason stands by Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales despite tour withdrawals

Armed guard: this soldier in Dhaka was one of thousands in the security operation
AFP/Getty Images
Chris Stocks2 November 2016

England’s head of security Reg Dickason says he has no hard feelings towards either Eoin Morgan or Alex Hales even though they went against his advice over the tour of Bangladesh.

Dickason passed the trip safe after he came here to Bangladesh’s capital in August, a month after a terrorist attack in the city. The Australian was satisfied with the assurance of a ‘presidential’ level of security by the Bangladeshi authorities but Morgan, England’s one-day captain, and Hales, refused to travel.

England have left Bangladesh after a trouble-free tour and Dickason said: “They had their concerns and I didn’t know what their specific concerns were but they had no agenda and felt compelled not to come which is fine. I wasn’t upset at all.

“We’re all adults. You look at the risk and get the best advice you can and you make a decision but they decided not to come.”

The security around England’s visit has been vast, with 2,000 people involved in the armed convoys that ferried the squad and the media from the team hotel in Dhaka to the ground in Mirpur.

In Chittagong, where the First Test was played, 1,400 personnel were involved. They were made up of special forces battalions, SWAT teams, armed police, metropolitan police and snipers.

“It’s been a huge operation and full credit to the Bangladesh government, police, and board,” said Dickason.

Today England arrived in India, where despite the terrorist threat not being at the level of Bangladesh there is still a big security presence around the team.

“It won’t be as overt as here but the underlying security plan is very robust,” said Dickason.

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