By the end of this week, Englands cricketers will have had to decide whether or not to tour Bangladesh. The official word is to go, but the spectre of terrorism weighs heavily on young men to whom the world has become a small and threatening place. This very personal choice will be driven by instinct, opinion at home, and not least by the extent of their own ambitions. Of course, no one wants to give in to terrorism but it really isnt that simple. Englands cricketers know their homeland and live within its problems and parameters every day of their lives. Bangladesh is an unknown. Alastair Cook has given a lead but it is not a directive. For the sake of Bangladesh, we must hope the players follow him. For those who do not, there will be neither blame nor shame.In a very different age I toured Bangladesh with the MCC. It was 1981, just a few months before Ian Botham turned the Ashes upside down, and over a four-week period 14 English cricketers of varied talents came to see the world through a new lens. We stayed in a two-star hotel in Dhaka, along with a legion or more of cockroaches, and in essentially primitive government rest houses everywhere else. Mostly we ate eggs, though the stoical among us quite enjoyed the curries served for lunch at the matches. On some evenings we had chicken, boiled or fried - at best you would call it stringy - and on others more spicy local food made with vegetables. We didnt touch the tap water, drank a little whisky if we could lay our hands on it and slugged back dark green bottle after bottle of 7 Up. On visits to the British High Commission, we loaded up on beer treated with preservatives, which gave us crushing hangovers. No one grumbled. When we awoke each morning, the sun was shining.We played on hard-baked mud pitches against good cricketers and held our own. The crowds that greeted us in the towns did so with an almost ghoulish fascination, first staring as if we were from another planet - which we sort of were - and then breaking out in bursts of cheer and encouragement. At the cricket grounds, the reaction was different. Our best efforts were greeted by silence, as if they hadnt happened. This was in direct contrast to the efforts of their own team, which were celebrated with a manic zeal. It is not so very different on the subcontinent today, though the IPL appears to have led to a greater appreciation of the game at large - as opposed to only the celebrities who play it.The captain of that MCC tour, Michael Mence, had to return home early due to dysentery. John Hampshire stood in for him and, though afflicted by stomach ailments himself, led us with the sort of no-nonsense approach required for such demanding conditions and feisty opponents. Most of us remember these eye-opening experiences with fondness. There was no luxury, just a common purpose and the resulting camaraderie. But this was not the world inhabited by the England players today. The nearest we got to a threat of terrorism was the third afternoon of the Dhaka Test, when an abrasive section of the huge crowd lit a fire in one of the stands, possibly because we had manoeuvred a promising position in the match. We left the field for an hour or so until the police sorted it. We were amateurs, touring out of choice and doing all we could for crickets global reach. Our aims and ambitions were far removed from those of the professionals of the moment.It is a fact that Islamic militants claimed responsibility for attacks that killed 29 people in a restaurant in Dhaka only two months ago and that a week later another attack led to four more deaths. No one knows whether it is safe for England to tour Bangladesh today. Equally, no one knows if it is safe for Bangladesh to tour England or, specifically, for any tourist to shop in the centre of London. Hardly anywhere in the cricketing firmament is categorically safe anymore - parts of the Caribbean maybe. But the game must go on if at all possible, otherwise there is no game.The ECB security team has covered the bases. The experts say there is no reason to cancel the tour. Each of the players has the right to make his own choice, and those who decide against might have to accept the consequences of absence if their replacement performs well. This is a part of the circle of life. We all make choices and have to accept the result of them.Security will be detailed and tight, making life less relaxed than would otherwise be the case. Cricketers mainly limit themselves to nearby cafés, restaurants and shopping malls, and these are as much a lottery as they would be anywhere else. This might be a tour on which to train hard, play hard and bunker down. The ground and the hotel will be alive with police and armed forces. The journey to and from will be protected by an armed guard. No stone will be left unturned to ensure safe passage.This is good enough for the England captain and might well prove to be good enough for the players under his command. Cook is not a man easily diverted from his responsibilities and his commitment to the cause is writ large in the position he has taken. Eoin Morgan is less sure. Cricket remains the one sport in which the captains word still echoes more loudly than that of the coach. Morgan has understandable concerns, and probably a general suspicion that the risk, at such a time of unrest, outweighs the potential reward of three one-day internationals in foreign conditions for his fast developing team. As it happens, the two England coaches - Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace - can offer an interesting perspective since both were working with Sri Lanka when the team bus was attacked by terrorists in Lahore in 2009. They can provide reassurance and also a dose of reality. Farbrace has said that he sees no reason not to tour.Either a player wants to go or he doesnt. Both options are fine. One point for the players to absorb from outside the collective is that the decision should not be clouded, consciously or subconsciously, by the challenging playing conditions or the limited attractions of Dhaka and Chittagong. There is a nice golf course in Dhaka, and a club or two, but thats about it on the recreation front. In general the pitches will be dry, bare and slow - not to everyones taste but a good rehearsal for India.If you tour Bangladesh, you tour for the cricket and for the joy of the people. You spread a gospel and inspire a movement for the game that has given you the life you love. It means a great deal to Bangladesh that England go there. More than it does to England that Bangladesh come here. Bangladesh faces the challenges of poverty, overpopulation, global warming and now terrorism. It is not a lucky country but it is a wonderful country, if not in the way of the wonders that are perceived to make this contemporary world spin round. And it is a cricketing country, where escape is found in the games of bat and ball.This is not to say that, individually, the England players have a responsibility to Bangladesh. Far from it. The responsibility is to themselves and their families. There is no case for persuasion or influence - only for reassurance and due diligence from the board, which has been both thoughtful and thorough. In this case, influence comes by example. Cook has laid out a marker. Andrew Strauss, Englands director of cricket, is bound to be on the plane too. Whatever individual choices are made, the ECBs determination to go ahead is the right thing by Bangladesh and will be seen as an inspiration to the game. Air Max 270 Baratas .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. Air Max 270 España .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. http://www.airmax270baratas.es/ . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. Comprar Air Max 270 Baratas . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Air Max 270 Baratas España . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Former England captain Ollie Phillips has predicted that rugby Sevens will provide a cracking spectacle at the Rio Olympics. The Great Britain squads for mens and womens competitions are set to be announced in London on Tuesday.And Phillips, who skippered England during a glittering Sevens career that also saw him named 2009 world Sevens player of the year, is relishing a six-day tournament which starts at Deodoro on August 6.Its brilliant that rugby is part of the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet, and that both our men and women get a chance to be a part of that, he told Press Association Sport. To win a gold medal, for most sportspeople, is the biggest accolade you can have.I think the Olympics will get a cracking spectacle. There is nothing, really, that exists within the Olympics whereby the action comes very thick and fast, and there is always something going on. Sevens is short, sharp, with loads of points and a carnival atmosphere.GBs men and women have built for Rio by taking part in a series of preparation tournaments -- the men triumphed on successive weekends in Exeter and Gdynia, Poland earlier this month -- with final 12-player groups now ready for unveiling.The men have been drawn alongside New Zealand, Kenya and Japan in Rio, with the women facing Canada, Brazil and Japan during pool stages that will see the top two teams from each of three groups -- plus two best third-placed sides - securing quarterfinal places.Phillips ex-England Sevens colleague Simon Amor is head coach of the mens squad, and while injuries have ruled out two initial training squad members -- Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson and Welshman Luke Morgan -- it is expected that Amor will be able to parade a powerful final contingent.What I like about Simons [training squad] selection is that most of the players have been playing Sevens all year for England, Scotland or Wales, so their fitnesss levels will be right up there, Phillips added.dddddddddddd. In Sevens, there is an expectation for players to be supremely fit.A lot of it in Sevens is just about the core skills that lots of people take for granted -- your handling, passing, tackling and how accurate you are at the breakdown.Sevens puts a huge magnifying glass over the core components of anyones game. There is no hiding. If you miss a tackle in 15-a-side, sometimes that can be recovered. In Sevens, more often than not, it cant be.Fifteen-a-side world stars like Bryan Habana and Quade Cooper failed in their attempts to secure respective Rio selection for South Africa and Australia, and while New Zealands Sonny Bill Williams made the final cut, Phillips has underlined how big the switch to rugbys abbreviated version can be.If you look at someone like Sonny Bill Williams, he came into the Sevens environment and it took him a good three tournaments to get used to the game in terms of what he was doing, how to play and what decisions to make, Phillips said. Players have almost become specialist Sevens players. There is a lot more focus on some players doing nothing but being out and out Sevens now, and that has seen the game grow.It is a challenge going from 15s into Sevens. You cover a lot more yardage, there is a lot more running. It is more about agility and speed. Also, the recognition of space. In 15s, there is less space and it is crowded with players, and on a Sevens field, it is all about appreciation of space, knowing when to take the gap between you and the defence or when to hold on and push out wide.The HSBC World Sevens Series has grown from six tournaments to 10, and the actual game of Sevens is really exploding. I think the Olympics will contribute massively to that. ' ' '