The

English cricket team The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket in Wales, Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Maryleb ...

toured Bangladesh in October 2016 to play three

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s (ODIs), two

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

and three tour matches. A terrorist attack in Dhaka four months before the tour started raised concerns about team safety. This led to two members of the England team, regular one-day captain

Eoin Morgan Eoin Joseph Gerard Morgan (born 10 September 1986) is an Irish-born English former cricketer and current commentator. He captained the England cricket team in limited overs cricket from 2015 until his international retirement in June 2022. He ...

and opener

Alex Hales Alexander Daniel Hales (born 3 January 1989) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batter who represented the England cricket team across all formats and played domestically for Nottinghamshire. He made his One Day International ...

, to withdraw from selection. England won the ODI series 2–1. The Test series finished 1–1, with Bangladesh recording their first ever Test win against England when they won the second Test by 108 runs. The Bangladesh captain,

Mushfiqur Rahim Mushfiqur Rahim (; born 9 May 1987) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and the former captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He is a right-handed middle-order Batting (cricket), batter and wicket-keeper in the national team. Mushfiqur started ...

, said that "it's a great moment for Bangladesh cricket". In response to the defeat England captain

Alastair Cook Sir Alastair Nathan Cook (born 25 December 1984) is an English former cricketer and former captain (cricket), captain of the England Test Cricket, Test and One-Day International, ODI teams. He is considered one of the greatest opening batsmen ...

said "it's not easy for me to say, but it's a good win for Bangladesh cricket".

Security concerns

Following a terrorist attack in Dhaka in July 2016, the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

(ECB) said it would follow advice from the Bangladesh government on the forthcoming tour. In response the president of the

Bangladesh Cricket Board The Bangladesh Cricket Board (; abbreviated as BCB), formerly known as Bangladesh Cricket Control Board, is the governing body of cricket in Bangladesh. It became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1977, and a Lis ...

(BCB), Nazmul Hassan, said that "England are coming after three months, by which time the situation in Bangladesh will get better". England's limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan said there were "big concerns" regarding the security of the England team following the attack. The BCB later rejected any plans to the matches at a neutral venue, should England pull out of the tour to Bangladesh. Bangladesh captain

Mashrafe Mortaza Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (born 5 October 1983), popularly known as the ''Narail Express'', is a Bangladeshi politician and cricketer who captained in all three formats of the game for the Bangladesh national cricket team and a former Jatiya Sangsad ...

said he was "hopeful" that the tour would go ahead. Zimbabwean

Richard Halsall Richard Grant Halsall (born 1 October 1968) is a Zimbabwean former cricketer. A right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm fast-medium, he was born at Salisbury, Rhodesia (today Harare, Zimbabwe). Halsall made his debut in first-class cricket ...

, Bangladesh's fielding coach, said that he feels safe working in Bangladesh and is hopeful of England's arrival. In August the ECB sent a delegation to do a security inspection of venues in Mirpur, Chittagong and Fatullah. Following the inspection, the ECB confirmed that the tour would go ahead as planned. Following the confirmation that the tour would go ahead, England's director of cricket,

Andrew Strauss Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club, Middl ...

, said that it is 100% safe to tour Bangladesh. Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president, said that the BCB would provide security for player's family members, journalists and travelling England fans. Some England players talked about safety evaluations before confirming their participation but

Moeen Ali Moeen Munir Ali (born 18 June 1987) is an English cricketer, who was formerly vice-captain of England in limited overs cricket. He played for England cricket team between 2014 and 2024. In domestic cricket he represents Warwickshire, having p ...

was the first England player to confirm he would go to Bangladesh, saying "If selected, I'll definitely go". Andrew Strauss gave a deadline of 10 September 2016 for players to confirm their commitment to the tour and on 11 September the ECB announced that

and Morgan both declined to tour. The England supporters' group, the

Barmy Army The Barmy Army is a group of British cricket fans known for supporting the English cricket team in both domestic and international matches. The Barmy Army was at first an informal group but was later turned into a company limited by guarantee, ...

, said there was "too much risk" for fans to travel to Bangladesh and later confirmed they would not be following the tour.

Jos Buttler Joseph Charles Buttler (born 8 September 1990), known as Jos Buttler, is an English international cricket, cricketer and former captain of the England cricket team, national team. He plays for Lancashire County Cricket Club, Lancashire in dom ...

was appointed captain of the ODI side in Morgan's absence. Buttler said that Morgan remains "very much the captain" and his choice not to tour Bangladesh "won't divide the dressing room". Morgan returned to his role of ODI captain when England tour India in November. Ahead of the ODI series, the

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army () is the land warfare branch, and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is ad ...

ran a security drill to evacuate players.

Squads

James Anderson and Mark Wood withdrew from the England squads before the tour started due to injury. Jake Ball was added to the Test squad and

Steven Finn Steven Thomas Finn (born 4 April 1989) is a former English cricketer. He was a right-arm fast bowler, who also bats right-handed. At the age of 16, he became Middlesex County Cricket Club's youngest-ever debutant in first-class cricket. He mad ...

to the ODI squad to replace them.

Taijul Islam Taijul Islam (Bengali: তাইজুল ইসলাম; born 7 February 1992) is a Bangladeshi left-arm orthodox spinner who plays for the Bangladesh national cricket team. He made his international debut for Bangladesh in September 2014. Tai ...

was added to Bangladesh's squad for the third ODI as a replacement for Mosharraf Hossain.

Subashis Roy Subashis Roy (born 29 November 1988) is a Bangladeshi bowler who represents Sylhet Division in first-class and list A cricket and the Chittagong Vikings franchise in the Bangladesh Premier League. He is a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast ...

and

Mosaddek Hossain Mosaddek Hossain Saikat (; born 10 December 1995) is a Bangladeshi cricketer who plays for the Bangladesh national cricket team and for Barisal Division in domestic cricket. He made his international debut in January 2016. He has played across ...

were added to Bangladesh's squad for the second Test. Hossain was a backup to

Sabbir Rahman Mohammad Sabbir Rahman (; born 22 November 1991) is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He is from Rajshahi and besides the national team, he plays for Rajshahi Division in domestic cricket. He is a batter who occasionally bowls leg spin. He was the highest ...

while

Shafiul Islam Shafiul Islam Suhas (; born: 6 October 1989) is a Bangladeshi cricketer. A right-arm fast-medium bowler, Shafiul has played for Rajshahi Division since 2006. Domestic career The Bangladesh Cricket Board founded the six-team Bangladesh Premier ...

was rested. However, a few days later the Bangladesh team announced that Sabbir Rahman would be fit for the second Test.

Tour matches

One-day:Bangladesh Cricket Board Select XI vs England XI

Two-day:Bangladesh Cricket Board XI vs England XI

ODI series

1st ODI

2nd ODI

3rd ODI

Test series

1st Test

2nd Test

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:English cricket team in Bangladesh in 2016-17 2016 in English cricket 2016 in Bangladeshi cricket International cricket competitions in 2016–17 English cricket tours of Bangladesh