Everything will change after this incident: Bangladesh cricket boss on Christchurch attacks
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan said the Christchurch mosque attacks had now changed their perception about team security on tours.
In Short
- Bangladesh cricket team left Christchurch after narrowly escaping the mosque shootings
- A lone gunman opened fire inside 2 mosques on Friday killing 49 people
- New Zealand and Bangladesh cricket boards had to cancel the 3rd Test as a result of the attacks
On a regular Test match morning Hagley Oval in Christchurch would be a hive of activity.
Mowers would be sweeping the broad, green outfield, ground staff making the last, finicky touches to the Test match pitch, cricket players going through warmups, pundits huddling and discussing prospects for the day.
But Saturday morning, the tree-lined oval near the center of Christchurch was a desolate reminder of the tragic events of the previous day. The stadium and the usual bustling boulevards that surround it were deserted as police urged people to stay indoors. The cricket Test between New Zealand and Bangladesh was cancelled.
On Friday afternoon, a gunman dressed in black, military style clothing opened fire on worshippers gathered for afternoon prayers at the Al Noor Mosque, only a 10-minute walk from the stadium.
A bus carrying members of the Bangladesh cricket team had just driven into a street near the mosque when the shooting started. Players and team support staff had planned to pray at the mosque before continuing to the ground to join teammates and coaching staff.
Players sheltered aboard the bus as shots rang out. The shootings, at two mosques, killed 49 people.
Bangladesh Team Manager Khaled Mashud Pilot speaks to the media following the incident of shooting in Christchurch. Blackcaps (NZC) and the Bangladesh Cricket Bord : Tigers (BCB) has been made to cancel the Hagley Oval Test pic.twitter.com/CH80ohDFMO Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) March 15, 2019
After a terrifying wait, described in vivid Twitter posts, players were able to leave the bus and walk through Hagley Park to Hagley Oval where, deeply shaken, they waited in their locker room until police allowed them to return to their hotel.
The team's performance analyst, Shrinivas Chandrasekeran, posted on Twitter "Just escaped active shooters. Heartbeats pumping badly and panic everywhere."
Mohammad Isam, a journalist from ESPNCricinfo, filmed the players as they made their way from the bus to the ground. They were told not to run but walk briskly and they did so, tension and distress evident in haunted looks.
Alhamdulillah finally going back home... pic.twitter.com/Iexh42kZbM Mushfiqur Rahim (@mushfiqur15) March 15, 2019
Three hours after the shooting, New Zealand Cricket, in consultation with the Bangladesh Cricket Board and International Cricket Council, announced the five-day match had been canceled.
In cricket, the cancellation of a Test match for reasons other than the weather is a rare event. In 2002 a scheduled Test between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi was canceled after a terrorist bombing close to the visitors' team hotel.
Violent crime is extremely rare in New Zealand and the Bangladesh Cricket Board said the attacks had now changed their perception about team security on tours.
"We'll demand proper security wherever our team goes in future," BCB President Nazmul Hassan told reporters in Dhaka on Friday. "If a country provides proper security as per our demand, then we will go otherwise not.
"I can say that everything will change after this incident."
Bangladesh team have reached at the Christchurch Airport on their way back to Dhaka. The Team is scheduled to arrive home today (Saturday) at BST 22h40. pic.twitter.com/6HiYAB07rD Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) March 15, 2019
In announcing the cancellation, New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White made clear that the events of Friday had forever changed the way in which the country approaches the security of sporting teams. Small and isolated, New Zealand has often considered itself immune from wider world events such as terrorist violence.
"This is shocking. This will change the entire fabric of international sports hosting," White said. "I think everything changes now. We'll certainly be having to look at our security in depth. I think the idea of New Zealand being a safe haven is gone now."
Bangladesh Team players were snapped at Christchurch Airport before heading back to Dhaka today (Saturday). pic.twitter.com/KvpsimqHCB Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) March 16, 2019
New Zealand cricketer Jimmy Neesham expressed a similar sense of shock and loss.
"For so long I've watched world events from afar and naively thought we were somehow different in our little corner of the world, somehow safe," Neesham said in a social media post. "Today is a terrible day. Disgusted and saddened doesn't begin to describe it."
The Bangladesh cricket team left New Zealand at noon Saturday.