Eoin Morgan said his position as the captain of England’s one-day team should have no bearing on whether he or others take their places on the tour of Bangladesh at the end of the month, stressing the need for the decision to be an individual one.
A week on from being briefed about the trip by the England and Wales Cricket Board’s security director, Reg Dickason, Morgan remains undecided over the tour, with other squad members also understood to have doubts about safety in the country following the July terrorist attack in Dhaka that led to 20 hostages and two policemen being killed.
The ECB is trying to give players space to consider the information and has pushed back selection for the tour to 13 September. England’s current one-day side, which is due to fly out to Bangladesh two weeks after that, was also given the opportunity to discuss concerns at a second meeting before the four-wicket win over Pakistan at Headingley on Thursday.
Asked whether, as captain, the limited-overs players are looking to him for guidance, Morgan said: “No, absolutely not. It is a completely individual thing. The decision any individual makes within the side is the right one and everybody will stand by whoever wants to go or not. I think that is very important.
“In that week [since the security briefing] we have not had a great deal of time to think about it. We have played a number of one-day games and not had a great deal of downtime. I think we will take as much time as we need to make a decision and to feel comfortable and to feel safe.
“If we’d had time off or no cricket between the meeting and now I can’t say I would be any closer to the decision but I would have had more time to digest everything and let everything settle.”
Alastair Cook, the Test captain, has already assured the director of England cricket, Andrew Strauss, he will take his place for the second half of the tour, while the coach, Trevor Bayliss, and his assistant, Paul Farbrace, will travel for all of it. Morgan does not expect to be able to give a definitive answer on his position until a couple of days after the final match of the summer, a Twenty20 with Pakistan at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Asked whether he is reluctant to go, Morgan replied: “Reluctant isn’t the word. I think when so much information is thrown at you within two months of a terrorist attack, you need to be settled within yourself so you can go there and concentrate on cricket.”
England play three one-day internationals with Bangladesh, starting in Dhaka on 7 October, before a two-Test series that leads into the two-month tour of India. Were Morgan to pull out, Jos Buttler, another who has declined to commit publicly to date, would be next in line to lead as he is the limited-overs vice-captain.
