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England sends a security expert

Paul Weaver

Miller feels no one should tour if he had “a sense of fear”

— Photo: AP

PROTECTION IS PARAMOUNT: English security expert Reg Dickason, sent to India to prepare a report on safety, will have to ensure that the security for the English players is good enough to remove any anxiety amongst the cricketers when they play the two Tests in Chennai and Mohali.

LONDON: England has dispatched its security expert Reg Dickason to India to prepare a report on safety on the subcontinent.

While in Chennai, Dickason will view the proposed venue for the first of the two Tests against England, which is due to start on December 11.

Even though Chennai is considered low-risk and was going to host the Champions League matches, Dickason is looking to see how security can best be implemented.

Provided the England and Wales Cricket Board receives security clearance for Chennai and Mohali, where the second Test is now due to be played, starting on December 19, the board must then make its case to the players.

Sans big names

It is improbable that England will return to India with the same 15 players, with some big names likely to be missing, including Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison.

But the Board of Control for Cricket in India is desperate for the tour to restart, however depleted the ranks, and, with security assurances, so is the ECB. Much could depend on the attitude of England’s captain, Kevin Pietersen.

The national selector, Geoff Miller, said on Monday that no one should agree to resume the tour if he had “a sense of fear.” Miller was involved in Monday’s meetings with the ECB and said he would be prepared to go if he were still a player.

“Yes, I think I would go if I got clearance on security. From an England point of view representing your country is very, very big, so if you’ve got a clearance from security of being looked after then, yes, I would.

“But the focus is on playing cricket so you’ve got to make sure you are fully focused on that job and not being side-tracked by other issues, and that’s pretty difficult. I understand that.

Fear factor

“If there’s a sense of fear then you can’t be fully focused on the job you are trying to do. These are difficult circumstances, difficult times, and you’ve got to have a very strong character to be able to do that.”

Miller added: “The players had their meeting in India and discussed things, although there was very little they could discuss while waiting to see what Reg and the security people said.

“Now they will make their own personal decisions and once they have all done that we will reassess it, but we have to reassess it quickly because the turnaround is rapid.

“We’ve got two big Tests to play against one of the best teams in the world. It’s not only about playing those games, it’s also about the build-up to them — the preparation. Obviously we’ve been knocked back as far as that is concerned.”

The England players arrived home on Saturday following the atrocities in Mumbai.

Respect for Morris

Hugh Morris, England’s managing director, gained renewed respect for the way he stood by his players and ensured their passage back to England, but in allowing the players to return to their families so soon before Christmas there was always the risk that some of them would be reluctant to return to the subcontinent.

As well as Morris, his colleagues at the ECB and all the security advisers, the players are likely to heed the advice from the Professional Cricketers’ chief executive Sean Morris, but he too was awaiting the all-important security verdict. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

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