Oz security chief arrives in Dhaka

Dhaka - Cricket Australia's head of security has arrived in Dhaka to view England's safety arrangements during the ongoing Test series, an official said.

Sean Carroll's arrival on Thursday comes a year after Australia pulled out of a Test series in Bangladesh over safety fears.

"Basically he came here to see the security arrangement for the England team," Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury said.

Australia also refused to send their junior team to the ICC Under-19 World Cup held in Bangladesh earlier this year.

Carroll travelled with the England team on their way to Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from their hotel to see for himself what kind of security measures had been put in place for the visiting side.

"He will be here a few more days and see our other arrangements. Australian High Commission has also maintained regular contact with us," Chowdhury said.

The bilateral series between Bangladesh and Australia has now been shifted to August 2017.

BCB hope the visit will reassure Australia, convincing them it is safe to send its team next year.

"It's really encouraging for us," said the BCB chief executive.

England agreed to go ahead with the current tour only after safety arrangements were cleared by their security chief Reg Dickason following a visit.

The series was plunged into doubt after an attack in a Dhaka restaurant in July that killed 22 people, mostly foreign hostages.

It has so far passed incident free. England will play their last match of the tour, the second Test of the two-Test series, on Friday.