Background
The Australia cricket team were scheduled to tour Bangladesh from 28 September to 21 October 2015 to play a tour match and two Test matches. [7]
A day before the tour was scheduled to start, the Australian team did not leave their country as Cricket Australia (CA) received information about security concerns. [8] The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said that they were surprised by the delay. [9] Sean Carroll, security manager for CA, met with the Australian High Commissioner in Bangladesh and the Bangladesh government to discuss the concerns. [10] Despite the continuing concerns regarding the tour, Bangladesh announced their squad on 28 September. [11] The BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said: "we are expecting all the matches to be played on schedule". [12] On 30 September the Australian cricketers were sent back to their state squads in readiness for the Matador Cup. [13] The BCB said that "the Bangladesh government has committed to additional security on top of the substantial and elaborate arrangements in the BCB's standard Security Plan for international cricket". [14]
On 1 October, Cricket Australia confirmed that the tour had been postponed with a view to re-arrange the matches for a later date. [15] [16] In April 2016, it indicated that it was hoping the tour would go ahead in 2017. [17] In June 2017, Cricket Australia confirmed the tour would take place in August 2017. [1]
Following England's tour to Bangladesh in October 2016, James Sutherland, CEO of Cricket Australia (CA), said the chances of Australia playing in Bangladesh were "quite high". [18] In April 2017, both CA and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) were negotiating the fixtures for the tour. [19] The BCB's chief executive said they "are now working on the schedule and other details with CA". [20] In May 2017, security assessments took place. [2] Later the same month, Cricket Australia sent a security team to Bangladesh to finalise arrangements for the tour. [21]
Representatives from both CA and the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) undertook a pre-tour security visit on 24 July 2017. [22] However, there was an ongoing pay dispute between Australian cricketers, CA and the ACA, with the BCB being informed of the possibility of the tour not going ahead. [23] Earlier in July, the Australia A cricket team had pulled out of a tri-series tournament in South Africa because of the dispute. [24] Australia's Test squad said they would attend a training camp in Darwin ahead of the series, but would not fly to Bangladesh unless there was a resolution to the pay dispute. [25] On 1 August 2017, Australia's captain Steve Smith said that the pay negotiations were progressing, but they needed to be finalised before the tour starts. [26] The following day, a deal was reached in the pay dispute, allowing for the Test series to go ahead as planned. [27] [28] The Australian team arrived in Bangladesh on 18 August 2017, under heavy security. [29]
Prior to the tour starting, the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, the venue for the first tour match between the Australians and a BCB XI was waterlogged. [30] The BCB looked at two alternative venues to play the fixture, in case the ground was not ready in time. [30] However, one day before the scheduled start of the match, it was called off, because of the waterlogging. [31]
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