Australia have pulled out of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh starting on January 27th due to security concerns. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said the decision was taken after advice from the government stated that the threat to Australian interests in Bangladesh was as high as when the senior team had pulled out of their tour in October last year.
The ICC has invited Ireland, who were runners-up in the qualifying tournament in Kuala Lumpur in October, to replace Australia in the tournament.
No other team is known to have similar plans. New Zealand Cricket confirmed that they would be going ahead with their tournament preparations as scheduled.
The ICC said that while they were disappointed with Australia's decision to pull out, they insist it remains appropriate for the tournament to take place.
"The ICC takes its responsibilities around the safety and security of our events extremely seriously," said chief executive David Richardson.
"Taking into consideration the full and unequivocal support of the Bangladesh government that has been afforded to us at the highest level and through all local security agencies, the advice we have received from our own and independent security experts, and the robust security plan that has been developed, the ICC remains of the view the it is appropriate for event planning to continue as scheduled."
