Eoin Morgan has become the first England captain to pull out of a series for security reasons after it was confirmed he and Alex Hales have declared themselves unavailable for selection for the winter tour to Bangladesh.
The England and Wales Cricket Board’s head of security, Reg Dickason, had cleared the month-long Test and one-day trip a fortnight ago but, despite those assurances – and two days of talks with Andrew Strauss, the director of cricket, in which the remainder of the England squad committed – Morgan and Hales will be the glaring omissions when the squads are named on Friday.
Morgan had last week spoken of an increased sensitivity to safety owing to incidents on the subcontinent, something that, given he has played in the Indian Premier League and a World Twenty20 in Bangladesh since, appears to have been triggered by the July terrorist attack in Dhaka and a report, which Cricket Australia has tried to play down, that Australia postponed their tour to the country last year owing to the team being directly targeted.
England’s one-day side will be led by the vice-captain, Jos Buttler, for the three-match series that begins on 7 October before the Test captain, Alastair Cook, takes over for the remainder of the tour that leads to two months in India before Christmas. Morgan will then, in theory, return to lead the limited-overs sides against India in January.
Strauss, in an ECB statement, said: “Whilst we understand and respect Eoin’s and Alex’s decision, we are disappointed they have made themselves unavailable for selection for the Bangladesh tour. We have had open and honest conversations with all the players about the security arrangements and we are not expecting any other individuals to withdraw. Final selection for the Bangladesh tour will take place on Friday.
“As with all England tours, the safety and security of players and staff is of the utmost importance. We will continue to monitor the situation in Bangladesh, take advice and consider the appropriate steps up to and throughout the five weeks we are on tour.”
Morgan, who first voiced concerns four days after the 1 July attack, has received greater attention than Hales owing to his status as captain. It remains to be seen whether his authority will be affected long term.
England have made significant strides in limited-overs cricket over the past 18 months under him, reaching the final of the World Twenty20 in April, and there has been no indication of an issue among the team over the past two weeks despite his deliberation on the subject. Writing in his Mail on Sunday column about how team-mates would likely react, the Test seamer Stuart Broad said: “I know there won’t be any questions. It’s not a one-in, all-in. You have to make up your own mind. It’s entirely up to the individual and the ECB has said that all along. No one should be making throwaway comments about it being ridiculous if people don’t tour.”
For Hales the call halts a Test career that began in South Africa last December but, bar a strong showing in the early summer series with Sri Lanka where he scored three half-centuries, has disappointed with an average of 27.28 from his 11 caps.
While his place as Cook’s opening partner in Test cricket is expected to go to Lancashire’s 19-year-old opener Haseeb Hameed for both Bangladesh and India, Hales can have no such fears over his one-day berth; only Joe Root has scored more than his 1,132 runs since the 2015 World Cup, while he broke the 23-year-old England record ODI score when scoring 171 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge last month.
Buttler, before his thoughts turn to the one-day captaincy, will on Monday play his first red-ball match since October last year when Lancashire host the Division One leaders, Middlesex, at Old Trafford, with England considering him for their winter Test party as the back-up to incumbent wicketkeeper, Jonny Bairstow, and the middler-order batsmen.
The all-rounder Ben Stokes posted a statement on Twitter in which he said he respected the decisions of his team-mates.
“I will always back, not just my captain but also any fellow team-mate’s decision on matters like this,” Stokes wrote.
“They have both obviously thought long and hard about this important decision and have both made the call that is right for them as individuals. Please try and respect their choice, I do, as a colleague and as friend to them both.”
