ECB wait on security advisor's report
December 2, 2008
The ECB will wait for security advisor Reg Dickason's report before taking a call on the tour to India
The England board has sent security advisor Reg Dickason to Chennai, the venue of the first Test against India starting December 11, to prepare a report on the safety situation in the country and how best to implement it for the touring team, according to newspaper reports.
Sean Morris, the England players' association (PCA) chief, said he would meet with the players later today, by when he hoped Dickason would have submitted his report which, according to Morris, was the PCA's "No. 1 consideration".
The Indian board shifted the two Tests from their original venues - Ahmedabad and Mumbai - to Chennai and Mohali following the terrorist strikes in Mumbai. Despite the itinerary changes, the ECB could send a weakened squad to return to India with three senior players - Andrew Flintoff, who also suffered an ankle injury during last week's fifth ODI, James Anderson, whose wife is pregnant, and Steve Harmison - believed to be disinclined towards touring.
"I'm delighted to hear the news that the BCCI are willing to accommodate concerns over the venues but primarily we must focus on what the security reports say," Morris was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph. "But we will not make our decision until security and duty of care towards the players is assured." The paper also reported that while the warm-up game in Vadodara, scheduled to start on Friday, had been cancelled, an alternative venue could host it and that the ECB was also considering a short training stint in the Middle East.
The Hindustan Times reported that the ECB had asked the BCCI for a list of safety assurances that included sharing of the high-level security plan with Dickason. According to the paper, the ECB also asked for a group of commandos to accompany the team at all times, an emergency evacuation plan in case of a terrorist strike and a security blanket over England's dressing rooms.
Justin Vaughan, New Zealand Cricket's chief executive, however, sounded an optimistic note on future tours to the subcontinent and said it would be impossible to constantly sideline Asian teams based on security concerns.
"It's a pretty scary future for the game if you think (listed events) are not going to go ahead," Vaughan told the New Zealand Herald. "India and Pakistan are core countries in terms of international cricket and it seems bizarre if we couldn't tour there".
New Zealand are set to tour Pakistan and India in 2009 and 2010 respectively and Vaughan said those tours will be crucial to their preparations for the World Cup in the subcontinent.