England ponder over Bangladesh tour after Dhaka attack

The England cricket board says it will follow government instructions about the team's Bangladesh tour in the wake of an unprecedented hostage crisis in Dhaka on Friday night.

In the latest flare-up of Islamist militant violence, gunmen laid Gulshan's Holey Artisan Bakery, popular with expatriates and the well-to-do, under siege with people - including foreigners - trapped inside the café.

After about 12 anxious hours, a commando operation brought a bloody end to the hostage standoff on Saturday morning, leaving at least 22 persons dead in its wake.

The board said it would work closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and assess the situation with input from their own security experts to reach a final decision about the tour, which was scheduled to begin on Sep 30.

An ECB spokesman said, "The safety and security of our players and management is always of paramount importance to ECB and this applies to all teams representing England on overseas tours.

"We will continue to monitor and assess the situation in Bangladesh over the coming weeks and months and will undertake a thoroughgoing and robust pre-tour inspection of planned security arrangements for the England team.

Last year, Australia had pulled out of a tour to Bangladesh following government warnings regarding potential threats from militants. Their under-19 team, too, withdrew from the youth World Cup in Bangladesh a few months later.

After the attack in the diplomatic zone of the capital, the FCO updated its security status asking British nationals residing in Gulshan 2 vicinity to 'remain vigilant' and 'follow the advice of the local security authorities'.

"Until further notice we specifically advise against visiting areas where foreign nationals are known to congregate such as public areas of International Hotels, large supermarkets, restaurants and clubs," it added.

The itinerary for the five-week tour was announced only last week. England have been scheduled to play two Tests and three ODIs against the Tigers in Dhaka and Chittagong.

After the Mumbai attacks in 2008, England flew back home from India but later returned to play two Tests in Chennai and Mohali.