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No stone will be left unturned to ensure the security of players and the public at the World Twenty20 in England this summer, the organisers promised yesterday, but fears were raised after it was announced that a warm-up match between India and Pakistan has been arranged for the Brit Oval on June 3, two days before the event starts.

Steve Elworthy, the tournament director, said the decision to pit the 2007 finalists against each other had been taken more than six months ago, before the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Lahore. Elworthy said that the ICC board had approved the fixture and that there was “a hell of a robust security plan” in place.

A security directorate chaired by Sir John Evans, the former chief constable of Devon & Cornwall Constabulary, and featuring Reg Dickason, the ECB’s head of security, and advisers from the Home Office and Metropolitan Police, meet regularly to discuss measures to protect the event. They will liaise again on Monday to consider the situation after the Lahore attack last week.

Security arrangements will be enhanced from those in place for the 2007 World Twenty20 in South Africa. “The situation is different and we have to plan accordingly,” Elworthy said. “Reg and I have had some prolonged calls in the past two weeks. The terrorists have become more active and this focuses the mind, but we are very confident that we have the right plan.”

He admitted that spectators will face more checks when they enter the grounds, but said that there would be an adequate number of personnel on the gates to reduce delays. A drive to recruit 1,000 volunteers for the event, all of whom must be vetted, was launched yesterday. A final round of tickets, including the warm-up matches, will go on sale on Thursday.

Darrell Hair, the former Test umpire, has criticised Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, for saying that Simon Taufel and Steve Davis, the umpires in Lahore, needed to be “more rational” in their assessment of the security provided.

Hair said: “I wonder if Lorgat would be making his shallow and insincere comments if he had been trapped in a hail of bullets and felt abandoned by the security forces. Does someone have to die before ICC begins to understand the reality of the matter?”

(Source: Thetimesonline.co.uk)