The Hindu : Sport : Reg Dickason likely to submit report on Sunday

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Reg Dickason likely to submit report on Sunday

Return to India, Kirsten urges the England team

— PHOTO: AFP

TAKING IT EASY: The England cricket team relaxing at the Dubai International Airport on Thursday. The team will practise in Abu Dhabi ahead of the Test matches against India.

New Delhi: The England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) security expert Reg Dickason is expected to give his final report on the security scenario in India on Sunday.

Dickason, who on Wednesday made a recce of the M. A. Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, the venue of the first Test between India and England, will stay in Chennai for a few more days and hold discussions with top BCCI officials and police officers.

He is likely to leave for Mohali, the venue of the second Test, at a later stage since the priority at the moment is to get all the security concerns addressed at Chennai.

The ECB’s security adviser will ensure that all the security arrangements are in place for the series before the team lands in Chennai.

During the day, Dickason was in touch with security agencies and government officials to get more information on the hijack threat at Indian airports which have been put on red alert.

He is likely to fly to Abu Dhabi on Sunday to deliver a final security report, which will determine whether England will proceed to India for the two-match Test series.

England team in Abu Dhabi

While the England team arrived in Abu Dhabi to prepare for the series, ECB Managing Director Hugh Morris and Sean Morris, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, are flying to India to meet Dickason.

In a world where no country is immune to terror threats, England should heed to the security assurances and return for the Test series against M. S. Dhoni and his men, said India coach Gary Kirsten from South Africa. Kirsten, who will come back to India this weekend after flying off to Cape Town following the abandonment of the last two one-dayers due to the Mumbai mayhem, said an element of risk would always be there no matter where England plays. “From a security point of view the England players have received assurances, the question on everyone’s mind is: how safe is safe?” Kirsten said.

“There is no way that security can be guaranteed wherever you are in the world. But you can’t keep saying no. There are terrorism threats everywhere, even the UK is not immune from them,” he was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.

Despite that, Kirsten said, England should have no apprehension in coming to India if the security experts give an all-clear to the arrangements.

“...if the professional security people who are paid to make these assessments have given the go-ahead then I think you have to go with it,” he said. — Agencies

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