Lionel Cann, Bermuda’s most outspoken squad member over the perils of travelling to Uganda, has greeted the International Cricket Council’s decision to move the World Cricket League Division Three tournament five time zones farther away to Malaysia.

The experienced early-order batsman, whose much publicised decision not to travel to the East African country because of safety concerns made international headlines last week, has reiterated commitment to Bermuda’s aspirations to reach the World Cup for a second time, but only if a new venue could be found.

“I was always available, but not to go to Uganda obviously, and I said that from the beginning,” said Cann, who was named in a 14-man squad pending the ICC’s final decision.

“We found out from the cricket board this morning that it had been finalised for Malaysia.

“I had concerns about Uganda and, as you can see, they changed it because they don’t want anybody going there at this particular time. Common sense had to prevail. I don’t think any sporting organisation will go to Uganda at this moment; not just Uganda, but a few other places in the world.

“Now hopefully all the hard work we’ve done will pay off.”

Cann and Janeiro Tucker, the captain, are the only players remaining from the Bermuda team that qualified in 2005 in Ireland for the 2007 World Cup.

“It is nice to represent your country and I’ve never been to Malaysia, so between now and then I’ll be doing my internet research to see what their wickets are like,” Cann said. “It’s a fresh challenge, going to Malaysia, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Bermuda will compete in a six-team tournament in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, along with the host nation, Singapore, Nepal, Uganda and the United States, whose involvement would heighten any potential risk, with several of their players having voiced strong concerns about travelling to Uganda in the wake of the alleged foiled terrorist plot in Kampala this month.

“I’m just surprised that it took the ICC so long to make the change, with everything that is going on,” Arnold Manders, the Bermuda coach, said. “A lot of our players have good friends in the Uganda team and the Board has a good rapport with Uganda, but you have to think about the safety of your players.

“Everybody was concerned, Lionel initially, and I had to try to ease their worries and say the ICC is not going to let us go anywhere where there is going to be any type of threat to our health.

“They are one of the most powerful sporting bodies in the world, other than Fifa. They’ve made their choice to move it out of Uganda and I think it’s a good decision.”

Manders has visited Malaysia twice, for the ICC Trophy Tournament in 1997 and again in 2008 as the cricket development director with Bermuda for the Under-19 World Cup. Senior squad players Malachi Jones, Terryn Fray and Jordan DeSilva were part of that youth team.

“Malaysia, I’m not too sure about because when we were there with the under-19s for the World Cup the wickets, unless they’ve improved, had an inconsistent bounce and later in the tournament, they got worse,” Manders said.

“I just hope the players are ready for the task at hand, although I’m disappointed some other players have not made themselves available. That’s the frustrating part.”

Tucker, whose first century at senior international level came on the otherwise ill-fated tour to Malaysia 17 years ago, is relieved that the concerns over safety have been put to rest with the tournament switch. “We all had concerns about Uganda, but there was not much we could do,” he said.

“The Uganda players and Bermuda players are friends, but it has nothing to do with them; just the security concerns within their country, which everybody is worrying about.”

“Our main objective is to qualify [for Division Two]. Once we heard about the security in Uganda, we knew they had to sort it out.

“You have to look at the security of everybody. We are there to play cricket, but you want everybody to come back safely.”