CA plan for 'business as usual' says Howard

Cricket Australia’s Pat Howard and team captain Steve Smith are both optimistic Australia’s planned two-Test tour of Bangladesh can still go ahead.

The tour was delayed by CA on Saturday amid security concerns raised by the Australian government that militant groups may target Australian interests.

CA chief executive James Sutherland updated media today, saying that the governing body’s head of security would be arriving in Bangladesh imminently, with a series of meetings on Monday to provide a clearer picture of the situation.

Quick Single: CA Head of Security due in Bangladesh

Howard, CA’s executive general manager of team performance, said that while contingency plans were in place to ensure Australia’s cricketers had the best possible preparation for the November Test series against New Zealand, he remained hopeful that the Bangladesh tour would go ahead.  

“I’ve been speaking to the captain (Smith), coach (Darren Lehmann) and the players throughout the last couple of days,” Howard told media at Brisbane’s National Cricket Centre.

“There’s obviously a fair bit of ambiguity over this, a lot of unknowns, but (Smith’s) been very optimistic and planning for the best as well.”

Should the tour not go ahead, Howard said contingency plans would be put into place whereby each player had sufficient preparation ahead of the New Zealand series.

“We’ve got 10 Tests during (what is) effectively our summer if we include Bangladesh and (a two-Test series in) New Zealand at the end,” he explained.

“So this would take us back to eight and obviously we’d have to prepare differently in the lead-up to the New Zealand series.

“We’ve made provisions for both those (possibilities) but at the moment we’re preparing for business as usual, with two Tests in Bangladesh.”

Quick Single: 'No alarm' for tour safety: Bangladesh

One such contingency could include the participation of players in the forthcoming Matador One-Day Cup – the domestic 50-over tournament which runs from October 5-25, while a cancelled tour would likely see the majority of the Test squad take part in the first round of the Sheffield Shield, beginning October 27.

“We’ve got the Matador Cup starting. There are lots of opportunities when cricket is back on the map, but the first bit was getting the Bangladesh guys off and that was obviously the original plan,” Howard added.

“We’ve moved that back by 72 hours to allow people to make some decisions on the ground (in Bangladesh).

“So once we know that information on the ground and can see what’s going on, obviously it’s going to give us a lot more information about any movements going forward.

“There’s all sorts of alternatives (if the tour is cancelled) but that’s obviously not the front-line scenario at the moment – the front-line scenario is getting to Bangladesh.

“But look, we have a Plan B, C and D as you would expect, and there’s lots of cricket coming up.

“The Matador Cup is starting, and we’ve got a big summer ahead as well, so there’s lots of cricket, there’s always lots of opportunities, but we’re planning for the boys to be in Bangladesh.”