By IANS,
Dubai : International Cricket Council’s (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat has urged the English cricketers to go ahead with the two Test series if the security of the players is assured in India.
“If safety and security allow, then I would urge the England Test tour of India to go ahead and if it does, then representatives of the ICC will be there to show solidarity with the competing teams,” Lorgat said in a statement Sunday.
After the terror attacks in Mumbai, England cut short its One-day series and flew back home Saturday. The England players are now reluctant to come back for the Test series though the venue of the second Test has been shifted from Mumbai to Chennai.
“If the Test series is played, I would also urge supporters of the game to attend it as will be the best way to send a message to those who seek to disrupt our way of life, that we will not be prevented from doing what we want or what we enjoy,” he said.
Lorgat also said he has written both to the Indian and English cricket boards pledging that the world body will extend all possible help to ensure that cricket goes ahead.
He said the ICC will ask the chief executives of the full members to address safety and security issues.
“The chief executives of the ICC’s 10 Full Members, as well as three Associate Member representatives, the ICC president, vice-president and I will be meeting in Cape Town next week in a scheduled Chief Executives’ Committee meeting,” he said.
“At that meeting I intend to raise the question of how we can all come together to address the challenges that the issue of safety and security brings to our game,” he said.
“Cricket is a common thread that binds all ICC Members and we must seek to ensure those ties endure. By doing so we will ensure our strong sport will grow even stronger,” Lorgat added.