England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan’s decision to skip the tour of Bangladesh has brought on plenty of interesting views from everyone connected with cricket. While security is something that shouldn’t be trifled with, many argued whether it was worth making a huge fuss out of after the tour was give the go-ahead by ECB’s security advisor.
While the ECB had said that the tour that consists of three ODIs and two Tests is safe, it also added that the players are free to decide whether they wanted to go or not and this decision by Morgan will certainly come as a huge blow to both England, who will have a new ODI captain in Jos Buttler and Bangladesh who won’t be playing a full-strength England side as they wanted.
Also read: England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, Alex Hales withdraw from Bangladesh tour
Here are the reactions from the cricket fraternity:
Writing in his column for the UK Telegraph, former England captain Michael Vaughan said: “”One main trait of a strong leader is they never ask a teammate to do something they would not do themselves.This is why Morgan has made a huge mistake. The players will support him in the press but there will be a little thought at the back of their minds that he went missing at a difficult time for the side.
"As a captain you are always saying to the players, 'It is going to get tough in the middle and you can’t have it all your own way'. You tell them to be strong so they can go the extra yard. I do not see how he can look them in the eye and ask them to do that in the future.”
In his column for The Daily Mail, Nasser Hussain echoed Vaughan’s sentiments as he wrote: "The next time Morgan asks his team to go that extra yard one of them might look at him and think: 'Hang on, when we put our necks on the line by going to Bangladesh and took ourselves out of our comfort zone, you weren’t with us. Where were you when we were surrounded by tanks and snipers and couldn’t leave our hotel rooms?’.
"It has to undermine his authority. The players will be cocooned in their rooms and will develop a siege mentality. That is a great shame but the bottom line is that if the team are going, if the ECB deem it safe, then the captain should be there.”
England all-rounderBen Stokes:
Graham Onions:
Michael Vaughan:
James Taylor:
Writing for The Mirror, legendary England all-rounder Ian Botham said: “If y”u give the players the choice and don’t make the decision yourself as the ruling body, then there can be no repercussions and no reprisals. Now that the captain has made his call, they should move on."
Simon Hughes:
England fast bowler Stuart Broad who confirmed his participation in the Bangladesh tour said: “That is a big commitment, they've put their necks on the line to an extent and Reg Dickason, the head of security, is a man I trust and who has unrivalled knowledge of this area. I've known Reg for a very long time and he's never let any of us down before.”
“Having said that, I do have sympathy for anyone who may decide not to go. It has to be a personal decision,” he added. “If you genuinely feel unsafe and it stresses you out to such an extent that it would impact your mental and physical wellbeing then it's completely understandable to not put yourself in the position. It's important we stick together as players and I know there won't be any questions if certain players decide not to go. It's not a one-in-all-in, you have to make up your own mind.”
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