Australia was pitted along with Nepal, India and New Zealand in Group D for the event."Regrettably, the advice from our government suggests that the security threat to Australians travelling to Bangladesh remains as high now," said Cricket Australia's Chief Executive James Sutherland, who was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The Cricket Australia had postponed a Test tour of Bangladesh in October last year for similar reason. However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is all prepared to host the event in Bangladesh.
The ICC, issuing a press release on Tuesday, informed that it will continue to prepare for this month's ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Bangladesh 2016 despite Australia withdrawing its team from the event and expressing its concerns about the safety and security of its squad.
The ICC explained that its own security manager and an independent security agency had been working very closely with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the Bangladesh security agencies, and that the planned security arrangements satisfactorily mitigate the risks identified such that it remains appropriate for the event to continue as planned.
"Whilst the ICC notes and respects the position of Cricket Australia, which we understand is based on an advice received from the Australian government, we are obviously disappointed with the decision," the press release stated.
Meanwhile, the ICC invited Ireland as a replacement of Australia in the world cup. Ireland had finished runner-up in the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers held in Malaysia last October.
Nepal had booked its place in the youth world cup beating Ireland in the final of the qualifiers.
The Australian youth team was scheduled to take on India on January 28, Nepal on January 30 and New Zealand on February 1 in group stage. It was also scheduled to play warm-up matches against Afghanistan on February 23 and Canada on 25.
Related story
Nepal defeat Thailand by 106 runs in U19 Women's T-20 World Cup...
