The Australian cricket team members were barred from access to a golf course during the first game of their Bangladesh tour, after a mismatch of communication and logistics was blamed for the incident.
The completely strange situation first raised doubts about player safety. But officials explained it was “due to the restrictions of the military area the golf course is in, which has its own vehicle access guidelines”.
Initially it was reported just a small contingent of Australian players would be travelling to the venue. It was reported that permission was granted for only one microbus to carry the group. But it turned out to be different when more of the touring party got in on the act.
Therefore, a bigger bus was needed to handle this extra number of pupils. Reasons given for the early-day-withdrawal included a lack of prior clearances for the size of the vehicle.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Director of General Administration told the reporters that arrangements had been made as per initial request and said that time on top priority to get more permissions.
The clash is part of Australia’s multi-format tour of Bangladesh that will see them play three ODIs, three T20Is and two Tests. The limited-overs series will be broadcast in Bangladesh in June and the Test series will take place with Australia.
However, the issue was deemed to be “administrative only” and had nothing to do with security concerns of the international players, officials said.