The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has postponed this month's home series with Pakistan due to security concerns, the board said in a statement on Thursday. “We have been advised by the home ministry to postpone the tour until further notice,” BCB media chief Jalal Yunus said. Pakistan was due to arrive in Bangladesh on Saturday to play two Twenty20 matches and five One-Day Internationals against the host from March 10 to 22. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt said the tour had been postponed by two weeks and the new dates would be announced later on Thursday. “The International Cricket Council (ICC) has asked the Bangladesh board to beef up security in light of what happened with the Sri Lankan team. So the Bangladesh board requested us to postpone the tour by two weeks and we said fine,” Butt said. “After Tuesday's incident we have to go through our government and get clearance for the tour which we are doing,” he added. The decision comes after the Sri Lanka cricket team was attacked by gunmen in the Pakistani city of Lahore as their bus approached the Gadaffi Stadium, wounding six players and an assistant coach. Eight Pakistanis, six policemen and two civilains, were killed in the ambush. Bangladesh has security concerns of its own following last week's mutiny at the headquarters of a paramilitary unit in Dhaka which killed at least 80 people, mostly army officers. Acting BCB chief Nizamuddin Chowdhury added that the Bangladesh board had been working on an International Cricket Council (ICC) request to beef up security for future tours. “The ICC has sought a revised security plan because it wants the players to be totally protected,” he said. The PCB also said it will lodge a protest with the International Cricket Council over remarks made by match referee Chris Broad criticizing security following Tuesday's attack. “It is very unfortunate what he has said,” Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt said on Thursday. “All he has said is totally untrue and fabricated.” Former England player Broad, traveling behind the team in a another bus whose driver was killed, told a news conference he and colleagues were left like “sitting ducks” by policemen during the attack. Butt said the government had done all it could to provide the best possible security for the visiting team and officials. “Let me tell you the same security plan was implemented for the Test series as when Sri Lanka came to play the one-day series. Broad himself appreciated the plans,” he said. “I think the incident, which is unfortunate, is being exaggerated. Right now agencies are carrying out two investigations into the incident and we should wait for their findings before saying the security was inadequate,” Butt added. Former England bowler Dominic Cork was also caught up in the incident. “If Ejaz Butt believes that security was enough at an international sports event then he's wrong and he should live and die by the words he's come out with,” Cork told Sky Sports News. “Ejaz Butt is completely and utterly out of order.” Pakistan Thursday faced fresh criticism over security lapses. “There's a bit of anger there that we were let down - we had all sorts of assurances before and I'm sure the (Sri Lankan) team feels that way too,” Australian umpire Steve Davis told reporters Thursday at Melbourne airport. “Despite all that, this was still able to happen and we were put in a very vulnerable position and felt very helpless.” Simon Taufel, another Australian umpire caught in the attack, also vented his fury at Pakistan, questioning how their bus had been left unprotected as the gunmen launched their assault. “We were promised a nine (out of 10 on security) and got delivered a two,” Taufel said upon his arrival home. “You tell me why supposedly 20 armed commandos were in our convoy and when the team bus got going again, we were left on our own? I don't have any answers to these questions.” Butt also said that relocating the second Test away from Lahore was discussed following an outbreak of political instability in the city. “I would say that it was discussed,” said Butt and refused to reveal further details and denied there was any meeting to discuss changing the venue of the match.
