ECB Chairman Lord MacLaurin talks to Ralph Dellor 28-56k

The Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Lord MacLaurin, has given an assurance that the forthcoming tour of India will be called off if there is any risk to player safety.

He emphasised that the situation is being constantly monitored and that the ECB will listen carefully to the views of the players.

Lord MacLaurin added that, on his return from Zimbabwe today, the England captain Nasser Hussain had spoken with ECB officials about the trip to India, which is due to take place next month, and he has expressed those views very clearly.

Talking to CricInfo, Lord MacLaurin said: "There have to be doubts, but at the moment the tour is very much on. We're monitoring the situation with our government and they're getting information back from the embassies in India.

"What I will say to you is that there is no way at all we would put our players' safety in jeopardy. If there is any doubt at all then I'm afraid, very sadly, we won't go."

He also said that, had the tour been due to take place a week ago, there is no doubt that it would have been called off. However, the ECB are looking at the situation day by day, and he said that things might well change in the next two weeks. That is the time limit by which a decision one way or the other must be made.

The current advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is that "Europeans should maintain a low profile when visiting India following the bombing raids on Afghanistan in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States of America." It is hard to imagine a higher profile for Europeans travelling to the country than playing a Test series.

Lord MacLaurin did admit that he has asked John Carr, the ECB's Director of Cricket Operations, to make inquiries about what other destinations might be available, in case the worst fears about the tour to India materialise.

Options might well prove to be limited, but Sri Lanka are due to host the West Indies about the same time as England are due in India. Whether the West Indies would be prepared to travel to the region if England declined remains to be seen. It is just conceivable that some sort of alternative in the Caribbean might be arranged as a stopgap.

All that is to be decided in the next few weeks, but Lord MacLaurin was keen to emphasise that no contingency plans have yet been formalised nor are contemplated.

"I must stress that, at the moment, the tour is still on. I know the Indian people are looking forward to us coming and I hope that, for the sake of cricket, we'll go but we'll just have to wait and see."

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