KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters)
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Wes Hall confirmed on Tuesday their tour of Sri Lanka starting next month would go ahead despite safety fears. "The team has been guaranteed safety and we believe that they will be safe," said Hall.

Security concerns had been raised over the U.S.-led bombing of Afghanistan which followed the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Team manager Ricky Skerritt told a news conference the Sri Lankan cricket board had assured him there would not be a security problem on the tour, which includes three Tests and a one-day series also involving the hosts and Zimbabwe. "The security arrangements are extremely good. The players will have security wherever they go. Cricketers are heroes in Sri Lanka and it is highly unlikely that anything will happen to them," Skerritt said.

The West Indians stand to lose money on the tour following a new ruling by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ICC test-playing nations voted at a recent meeting that Test teams playing away would now be paid US$62,500 per Test match and US$25,000 per one-day international.

"The West Indies was the only dissenting voice in the vote which went 9-1," Hall said at the news conference. We have an obligation under the ICC programme to play every Test-playing nation twice every 10 years, home and away. When we go to Bangladesh, Kenya or Zimbabwe, we are paid the same money as when we go to England, India or Australia.

"We have to play the mainstream teams like India, England and Australia often and if we don't get five Tests against these teams, we can't make up when we go on ancillary tours like Bangladesh and Kenya. Our only salvation at making some money is that we have been awarded the World Cup (in 2007)," Hall said.

He added the practice of negotiating financial incentives was in the past, which meant proceeds from gate receipts and television rights would now go solely to the host nation.

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