England’s cricket team, which returned home from India after last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, will fly to Abu Dhabi today and resume its Indian tour if security officials give the go-ahead.
No players have dropped out of captain Kevin Pietersen’s squad over safety concerns, the England and Wales Cricket Board said in an e-mailed statement. England is scheduled to start the first of two Test matches against India a week today.
The board has held three days of meetings with security analysts to determine whether the squad would return after leaving Nov. 29 in the middle of its tour. Reg Dickason, the group’s security adviser, has been in India inspecting the game sites in Chennai and Mohali.
“The only consideration in all our discussions has been the safety and security of the team and support staff,” Hugh Morris, England Cricket managing director, said in the statement. “While we have sought to reassure players that their safety is paramount, we have not pressurized any player into making the trip against their will.”
Media reports in the U.K. said all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and bowler Steve Harmison might refuse to go back over safety issues following the attacks that killed 195 people. Both were named in the 14-man squad.
Batsman Andrew Strauss said the players had had time to assess the situation after reacting “emotionally” to the devastation, including at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel where they had stayed last month.
‘Safe’
“We’ve been able to look at things a little more logically and objectively and it seems like the right thing to do,” Strauss said in an interview with the BBC. “If any of us believed it was not safe to go, we would not be making that journey to India.”
England will practice in Abu Dhabi, along with nine members of its second-string “performance” squad, then fly on to India early next week if security recommendations made by the ECB have been implemented.
Morris and Sean Morris, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, will go to India while the team is in Abu Dhabi to ensure the security arrangements are in place.
“The PCA and ECB have worked extremely closely on this issue and the players have been fully supportive throughout,” Sean Morris said. “We will access the highest caliber of security advice on a regular basis so that we can provide the players with the latest accurate information.”
Switched
The five-day Tests were originally scheduled to start in Ahmedabad on Dec. 11 and Mumbai on Dec. 19. The Board of Control for Cricket in India switched them to Chennai and Mohali.
Strauss said the team faces a challenge with such a short lead-up to the first Test. England had lost five straight one- day internationals to India before returning to the U.K. and abandoning the last two games of the one-day series.
“We’ve got to get over there, get over jet lag and get some practice in,” Strauss said on the BBC. “That’s a big challenge and we don’t underestimate that challenge. But circumstances like this can bring teams pretty close together and we might surprise some people and play some good cricket.”
Ryan Sidebottom, a member of the original squad, will miss the Tests with a side injury. Stuart Broad will remain in England for treatment on a hamstring strain and will join the squad in Chennai, where he’ll be evaluated for the second Test.
ENGLAND TEST SQUAD:
Kevin Pietersen, Tim Ambrose, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann.
ENGLAND PERFORMANCE PROGRAM SQUAD:
Ravi Bopara, Mark Davies, Robert Joseph, Amjad Khan, Sajid Mahmood, Samit Patel, Liam Plunkett, Oliver Rayner, Alan Richardson.
(Source: Bloomberg)
