Clouds over an Indian summer
ENGLAND will stop their players joining the IPL next month if they have fears about security arrangements following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team.
The team’s managing director, Hugh Morris, made it clear yesterday that the outrage in Pakistan has affected the thinking about allowing the players to participate in the lucrative 20-over tournament in neighbouring India.
“Safety and security is always the No 1 priority of the board,” said Morris. “[What happened in Lahore] was a tragedy, a shocking event, and the ramifications will have to be considered.
“We have a right with all of our contracted players. We are talking with the Professional Cricketers’ Association and looking very closely at the security situation.”
Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen are set to play in the IPL for the first time next month and will earn £500,000 for three weeks of cricket. Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah also have deals with franchise teams.
Contracted England players can only go to the IPL with a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the Board. This can be withdrawn if the ECB have worries about fitness – which may be an issue with Flintoff, who has flown home from the
West Indies tour for treatment on a torn hip muscle.
The ECB can also cite security concerns for being a reason to stop a player joining the IPL.
Morris said: “We need to make sure the safety and security provisions are in place at each of the franchises, just as we need to make sure the health and fitness provisions are in place.”
The IPL organisers are promising top-level security, but the ECB may find the players making the decision to pull out for themselves.
Collingwood, who stands to earn £100,000 after being signed up by the Delhi Dare Devils, said: “I have always felt safe in India when I’ve played there and it is important to recognise that this is a different country to Pakistan.
“But, of course, when something as tragic as this happens, thoughts do cross your mind and you do question things a bit because we’ve all been in similar situations travelling to and from games.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that something like this raises concerns, but I’m not about to make any decisions on it right now. My thoughts are on this tour and the Test.”
England’s players are to discuss the issue with PCA chief executive Sean Morris, while the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations has written to the IPL to seek assurances about security levels.
Morris said yesterday that there is no question of the PCA advising their members that they should not attend. He said: “We will consider independent advice from several sources, including the Foreign Office, but we are also confident that IPL boss Lalit Modi is massively security conscious.
“It will become a top priority the nearer we get to the departure date but, at the moment, there is no question of us advising our players not to take up commitments.”
Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who has already pulled out of the IPL in order to concentrate on his Ashes build-up, hinted that some of his Australian team-mates might reconsider their options.
“I think there would have been enough concerns from the guys anyway after Mumbai,” said Ponting in Durban yesterday, referring to the terrorist attack in the Indian city last November.
“That was still pretty fresh in everyone’s minds and with this one on top, some of the guys that could be going there will have all those things to think about as well.”
Former England coach Duncan Fletcher has urged players to reconsider their participation. He said: “The traffic is often so bad in the big [Indian] cities, the coach can move along only slowly at times, which turns it into a sitting duck for terrorists. I would be very nervous.”
Clouding the issue of the IPL is a request from the Indian Government for the tournament to be switched to a later date. A general election has been called and they fear security forces will be too stretched to cover the cricket as well.
Meanwhile, England’s players were trying to focus on more mundane matters, such as trying to win a Test. The last one against the West Indies starts here tomorrow.
Vice-captain Alastair Cook said: “What has happened in Lahore puts cricket into perspective. But we have a job to do here and have to concentrate on that.”
q ASHLEY GILES has applied for the job as England’s head coach. Since being forced to retire two years ago with a hip injury, Giles has combined his work as Warwickshire’s director of cricket with being a selector.
