Australia to sit in on Bangladesh briefing At risk: West Indies players celebrate taking a wicket during the 2011 ICC World Cup against Bangladesh in Dhaka. The West Indies team bus was stoned as they returned to their hotel. Australia will send a representative to an ICC security meeting in crisis-torn Bangladesh next week as concerns rise about the nation's ability to guarantee player safety in this year's World Twenty20 tournament. Violence and strikes surrounded elections in Bangladesh this month. Hundreds of schools to be used as polling booths were burnt down and at least 18 people were killed. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party's vow to continue the protest against the government and the related unrest could result in the World T20 being switched to a different venue, probably Sri Lanka, at the last minute. Cricket Australia is sending its anti-corruption and security manager, Sean Carroll, to a briefing on January 20 that will be attended by ICC security chiefs and representatives of the other countries competing in the 16-nation event. Australia are scheduled to be based in the capital, Dhaka, and play all their games there but like other teams want to ensure their players and staff will not be in danger. "The safety and security of the Australian team and its support staff is Cricket Australia's highest priority," a CA spokesman said. Ahead of the World T20 in Bangladesh, we will work with the ICC to undertake a thorough review of risks and proposed security arrangements for the tournament. The players, via the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, will also be represented at the security meeting and will be guided by the advice of security advisor Reg Dickason and his company Eastern Star International. An Australian who now works as a security consultant with the English team, Dickason will provide an independent threat assessment to FICA. "The players and the player associations have a high level of trust in his advice," said FICA executive chairman Paul Marsh. We've gone on plenty of tours when he's said it's OK and we've pulled out of some events when he's suggested that it's not. We've got a high level of trust there and that's what we'll be relying on as we move towards this event. It is understood that Australia's flights, which are organised by the ICC as it is their tournament, have only been booked as far as India, as there is an increasingly likelihood that the competition, to run from March 16 to April 6, will be moved. Concerns about Bangladesh's capacity to host will not be eased by the opposition party's call for a blockade of roads, rail and waterways to apply more pressure on the government. A series of recent incidents have added to the consternation. The West Indies withdrew their under-19 team from the rest of their tour of Bangladesh in December after an explosion near their hotel in Chittagong and the New Zealand team were confined to their hotel last November when several Molotov cocktails exploded nearby. During the 50-over World Cup on the subcontinent in 2011 the West Indies bus was stoned en route to the team's hotel after they thrashed Bangladesh in Dhaka while England were said to be stuck in their dressing room for three hours after a match in Chittagong because of traffic. Bangladesh is also set to host the Asia Cup one-day tournament, featuring the Tigers as well as India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, from February 24 to March 7 and Sri Lanka are due in the country for a tour beginning in a fortnight. Pakistan have reportedly been granted a team of army commandos to accompany them at all times during the Asia Cup. Sri Lanka have offered to host both the Asia Cup and World T20 but there are also suggestions the World T20 could be moved to the United Arab Emirates, where the ICC is based. "The last thing you want for any of these countries is to have an event taken away from them for these sort of reasons," Marsh said. I'm sure there's been a lot of money spent by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Hopefully it doesn't get to that but from the perspective of player safety, there is nothing more important. If it's not safe, you have to move it.