Calmness greets England tourists in Bangladesh, reports Tim Abraham
Sunday 2 October 2016 13:25, UK
The England team bus was expected at any time, and the much anticipated high level security operation swung into action and Sky Sports cricket reporter Tim Abraham was in the thick of the action.....
There must have been over 50 Special Forces Military personnel who amassed together at the hotel gates, the roads were closed off, as Dhaka fell silent.
It was such a contrast from the usual hustle and bustle and the noise of screaming vehicles of all shapes and sizes and their loud horns which constantly sound all day and every day.
This was a very different Dhaka. The sounds we could hear were the sirens in the distance, which grew louder and then the convoy came into view in the darkness, lit by the flashing lights of the lead vehicle packed with armed guards.
It was travelling ever so slowly as it approached the hotel gates. After all the build-up over security, all was calm for the much-anticipated arrival of the England cricket team in Bangladesh.
Decision to tour made back home in the summer and now they were here, England's latest overseas assignment had begun.
England team managing director Andrew Strauss said on the day the decision was confirmed he would be travelling to Bangladesh and here he was straight away leading the team off the bus, a presence right from the start alongside ECB chief executive Tom Harrison.
He spoke to me upon arrival, "here we go" very much the theme and thrust of his interview saying it was important the men in suits were not just looking on from ECB Towers but they were here too, having made the decision for the players to come.
One man who had not made it and was going to be a few days late was head coach Trevor Bayliss because of a mix-up over travel documents in Australia where he was coming from, so assistant coach Paul Farbrace will once again lead duties for a couple of days.
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Myself and cameraman Dave Buxton, a tour veteran himself, arrived a day ahead of the team to get settled, sort out the technical aspects of feeding material back to the UK, and it was just good to get a feel of Dhaka, to gauge the security, which is always tight in this part of the world for visiting teams.
In many ways the forces here were getting a dry run at the hotel, because Bangladesh and Afghanistan were involved in a one day series and staying at the same hotel.
As we checked in I chatted to former England assistant coach Richard Halsall, now working with Bangladesh, as is West Indies legend Courtney Walsh. These were familiar cricket faces and they seemed very relaxed.
Given the circumstances it was important for us to be ahead of the team so we were in good place for those all-important arrival shots. Plus it gave Dave the chance to get the security presence at the hotel in the can to send back to Sky Sports to show what England can expect when they got here.
Batsman Ben Duckett was put up for interview on the first full day and the players had time to ease into the tour, relaxing and going to the well-equipped gym.
Duckett spoke of his desire to kick on and what he could do after his prolific season with Northants, dealing with an unfamiliar heavy security environment, but he was here to rise to the challenge of performing at the very highest level.
