Australian women’s captain Alyssa Healy expressed strong reservations about playing in the T20 World Cup 2024 in Bangladesh this October. Healy reckons playing in Bangladesh, when it is passing through the current political crisis, will be inappropriate and challenging for the teams.
The state of affairs in Bangladesh has gone from bad to worse after the voluntary exit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. This crisis has caused widespread instability in that country, thereby prompting the International Cricket Council to reconsider Bangladesh as this year’s host nation for the tournament. The ICC is now placing bids for alternative venues, with Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka contending as the prime alternates.
An ultimate decision will be made by August 20, thereby eliminating every doubt from the minds of the respective teams. Healy also laid another focus on the point that Bangladesh is on the present Australian government’s list of places that people should avoid, which undoubtedly gives a threatening signal to the safety of players. She added that the focus must be on supporting those affected by the crisis rather than merely conducting a sporting event.
“I’d find it hard to fathom playing there at the moment, as a human being, I feel like it might be the wrong thing to do,” Healy was quoted as saying by AAP.
“(That would be) taking resources away from a country that is really struggling. They’re needing everyone they can possibly get in there helping people that are dying.
“There’s obviously bigger factors at play than putting a cricket tournament on in Bangladesh at the moment … but I’ll leave it to the ICC to work out.”
The Bangladesh Cricket Board has also confirmed ongoing communications with the ICC over these concerns. Preparations and planning by participating teams, who are waiting to see what ICC finally comes up with, have also been hit.
“Being the host nation, we are regularly communicating with the ICC [International Cricket Council] regarding this issue, and even in our last communication yesterday [Friday], they expressed concern over the travel advisories from four participating nations,” a BCB official told The Daily Star.
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