England captains Alastair Cook and Eoin Morgan at odds over winter tour to Bangladesh
The England and Wales Cricket Board recently carried out a security review of the country.
England Test captain Alastair Cook and one-day skipper Eoin Morgan are reportedly at odds over whether the Three Lions should tour Bangladesh this winter. The team were recently given the all-clear to travel to Bangladesh after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) carried out a security review.
Cook, 31, is happy to tour the country in October, when he will feature in the Test series only, but Morgan has fears about travelling, the Daily Telegraph reports. Meanwhile, Andrew Strauss, the England team director, is to hold a series of one-on-one meetings with those players who still have doubts over whether to travel or not.
Although Cook is preparing to welcome his second child next month, the record-breaking batsman – who has captained the Three Lions since 2012 – is reportedly satisfied by the ECB's security proposal. What's more, Cook is conscious of his responsibility to show leadership as the team's most senior figure.
Next week, the England selectors are set to name the one-day squad for the tour of Bangladesh and they will be keen to establish Morgan's position on the security issue. One potential complication is that the selectors may wish to rest the likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali for the one-dayers, because they play all three formats of the game.
If Morgan does not travel to Bangladesh, Root would be the most logical candidate to replace him as the captain. But if Morgan does not go and Root is rested, England do not have too many experienced alternatives to lead the team.
Liam Plunkett, who toured Bangladesh with England in 2010, has admitted the security issue is currently hanging over the Three Lions. "People are just digesting what went on in the meeting [last week] and I will have a bit more of a think once the [English summer] is done," he said, according to the Daily Telegraph.
"You pick up a paper and there's trouble everywhere in the world so I don't know but I'll speak to my family once the series is done, have a good think, look into it a bit more and come up with a decision."
Plunkett also revealed that the team will not be making a collective decision, meaning the onus is on individuals to reach their own conclusion about the tour. "People are talking. It is your career, it is up to you how you want to approach it," the fast bowler said.
"People are talking to each other and getting different ideas. Everyone has their own way of thinking about it. Some people might want to go, some people might not. I guess they will come up with that themselves."
England are due to play three one-day internationals and two Test matches in Bangladesh, starting with the first game in Dhaka on 7 October. Security fears have arisen after Australia pulled out of a scheduled tour in October 2015 on security advice warning of a "credible" threat.
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