In late November 2008, I received a phone call which put a dampener on the pleasant evening I had enjoyed.
When he was abroad, my brother only called me when he was after something, usually along the lines of “Can you pick me up from the airport tomorrow morning?”
But as this was in the middle of a tour, it was a bit of a surprise, and Graeme’s opening question – I was about to jokingly ask him what time in the morning he wanted picking up – was more of a shocked statement.
“Have you seen the news?” This, as a rule, is not a query to immediately lift the spirits.
When it is followed by “there are terrorists in the hotel I’m supposed to be going back to”, it tends to shake you up just a bit.
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That attacks on the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai took place not long after intelligence agencies warned of such an occurrence. They immediately forced the England team home and they only returned to the sub-continent – albeit with an amended schedule which saw Chennai replace Mumbai on the list of Test venues – after receiving favourable security advice.
Would they have returned had the British foreign office stated that by doing so they were putting themselves in harm’s way? I can’t provide an answer to such a question but it certainly makes you think.
Would I have wanted a member of my family to go to a venue, in a high-profile working environment, knowing that he had been advised it was against better judgement? No, I wouldn’t.
My mind slipped back to the aforementioned incident when seeing the news of Cricket Australia’s decision to pull their Under-19 side of the upcoming World Cup in Bangladesh.
Given the fact the senior side reneged on an agreement to tour the same country only a couple of months ago, this hardly registered on the Richter scale of surprises, but it still isn’t what you expect to see.
Having read the report on the Cricinfo website, I – rather foolishly as became immediately apparent – decided to take a look at some of the readers’ comments below the article.
I won’t condemn the concept of reader interaction as, after all, hopefully this piece will gain traction on this particular site, but there are certain topics where rather forthright opinions are the currency of choice.
And this wasn’t an opinion piece stating that so and so is overrated, or this bloke is a better player than that one. It is merely a news piece, stating fact and quoting sources. And that fact is the Australian government feel it is unsafe for their nation’s citizens to travel to Bangladesh.
That sounds fairly clear-cut, but to browse some of the opinion is to be led to believe that a great injustice had been committed, not a decision reached after a great deal of thought.
The number of people who are happy to mock such a choice on the grounds of weakness or a lack of moral fibre beggars belief.
‘Please, Australian cricket team, ignore the advice of those paid to supply it. You’ll be fine’. An easy opinion to formulate when you’re not the one expected to do the travelling.
I can recall Shane Warne, after Australia refused to play in Colombo during the 1996 World Cup following a bomb blast in the city, being mocked for making a throwaway line about the risks of shopping in such an environment.
What a fool Warne was, expressing concerns about potentially being in the path of an explosive device. How dare he think of his own safety.
Governing bodies receive plenty of flak, some of it justified, some of it not so, and simply because those who make the decisions are inevitably in the firing line.
In this instance, they only had one choice they could make. Your government, who are far better qualified than you are, expresses a legitimate concern and you pull the plug.
Yes, the players will be mightily disappointed, but the consequences of ignorance don’t bear thinking about. There is a bigger picture that needs looking at.
I remember that phone call.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Cricinfo comments are a cancer, just a bunch of gobby sub-continentals. Not worth taking seriously.
Damo
Guest
Alec, surely you've learnt by now not to read comments on cricinfo! How many comments were there before someone mentioned Tendulkar or Afridi? And if you really want to see something depressing, read the comments about the Gayle situation.
matthew_gently
Guest
As I understand, the Socceroos flew in and out from a base in Singapore, and spent as little time as possible actually in Bangladesh. FIFA is quick to impose sanctions whenever a government imposes on a national authority, so Australia's football administrators must have judged that the severity of any sanctions would outweigh the risks to the players. I don't think the ICC has ever sanctioned any team for pulling out of a tour.
matthew_gently
Guest
Totally agree. I think back to the attack on the Sri Lankan tour bus in Pakistan. horrible, but avoidable. Despite security, touring international cricketers are relatively exposed, due to movements between airports, hotels and grounds, and the sheer amount of time spent on the playing field. Of course it's disappointing for Australia's U19 team, but Cricket Australia is acting on the best-available, independent advice, from authorities who are paid to know.
Dasilva
Guest
I do wonder though how much of the risk as the Socceroos manage to play a World Cup qualifier in Bangladesh. FFA apparently tried to move the match to another venue but FIFA said that the match must go ahead or forfeit the results. Apparently FIFA aren't convince of the risk It's clear that the Australian government advise you not to travel there, it's best not to do so. However there are always a risk and it depends on where is the line when the risk is unacceptable. I guess it's funny that In the end the chance of losing millions of dollars of not qualifying to the World Cup (there's a huge chance of that happening of losing an easy three points against the weakest team in the group) makes the risk seems acceptable
Craig Swanson
Guest
Those 15 kids who busted a gut to get to the point of becoming an Australian cricketer must be shattered with this decision by the Government.These heartless Daesh are winning the psychological battle with the west by disrupting our daily lives. France and Belgium cancelled Christmas celebration this year because of a high terrorist threat. The ICC should take the unprecedented step and ban all cricket from being played in Muslim countries until this terror scurge is eradicated completely. That is also what Daesh wants. But the head must rule the heart.
BrainsTrust
Guest
What I couldn;t understand is how come Chris Gayle went to Bangladesh with his terrible back to play t20 at the same time. If only crickets other mercenaries where as dedicated as CHris Gayle. Even if they pay him millions a year to play in the IPL it still doesn't diminish his appetite to make a buck on the side elsewhere.
AlanKC
Guest
I've read comments here on the Roar suggesting that CA were afraid that Bangladesh would have beaten our side and that was the reason they cancelled. Sheesh, talk about wearing alfoil hats.
Bryan
Guest
Do you really think that the resources cricket Australia can throw at a u19 tournament security in Bangladesh are equivalent to what the French government did in their own capital? The French army was patrolling the streets.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
You didn't actually read the article, did you...
Bryan
Guest
It's a damned if you cancel and a hung from the rafters if they go against advice and something happens, especially if a young kid dies. There is no choice. They get advice not to go, and that's just about the end of the story. Risk vs reward. Reward is a competition goes ahead. Risk is possibly the biggest story in Australian newspaper for the year, a lot of people losing their jobs and someone possibly dying. It would have to be a tiny chance of happening for me to even consider that choice. And as swanny said above, cricketers have been targeted multiple times before.
TommyH
Guest
Im pretty sure there was a huge number of people killed in Paris not so long ago, only for two weeks later a global summit on climate change held there for 2 weeks. Also England vs France happened at Wembley a few days after. That goes along with the Sydney cafe seige on 15th to 16th December 2014, quickly followed by a test match the next day vs India.