ECB team to travel to Australia this month to check on Ashes security measures following recent spate of terror attacks

Reg Dickason, the ECB’s director of security

Stu Forster/Getty Images

Tom Collomosse13 April 2017

England security chiefs will travel to Australia on a fact-finding mission later this month ahead of next winter’s Ashes series.

Reg Dickason, the ECB’s director of security, will lead the delegation Down Under to inspect venues and hotels. England will be in Australia from November until February.

The suspected terror attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus on Tuesday has placed security in sport in the spotlight. Dickason has worked in the business since 1996 and is also involved with football, squash and tennis through his company, Eastern Star International.

Dickason played a key role in deciding that England’s tour of Bangladesh last autumn would go ahead after 20 people were killed in an attack on a coffee shop in Dhaka in July 2016.

Dickason told Standard Sport: “Any attack on individuals with some fame around the world gets instant global recognition.

“You can never be 100 per cent certain of keeping people completely safe. What you can do is mitigate the risks to an acceptable level. Most people in similar positions to me plan for the worst and hope for the best.

“We are lucky to have a good relationship with the players, based on trust. You must keep the lines of communication open.

“The attack on the Dortmund bus was in an uncontrollable environment. When you’re driving through a city anywhere in the world, the public have unrestricted access to streets, buildings, vehicles at the side.”

Three explosions hit the Dortmund bus on Tuesday before the Champions League quarter-final against Monaco. Defender Marc Bartra underwent surgery on a broken wrist and to remove shrapnel from his arm.

Dickason added: “These incidents are not confined to certain parts of the world and they will probably keep happening.

“What happened in Dortmund put attacks on sports teams on the map, but I don’t necessarily think it would encourage others. People who are that way inclined do not need encouragement.”