England discussing future of tour

Nov 27 2008

The England and Wales Cricket Board will decide over the next 24 hours whether to cancel their tour of India.

The move comes after a terrorist attack in the Indian city of Mumbai which is reported to have killed 101 people and wounded hundreds more. The England team will not travel to Guwahati on Thursday afternoon as scheduled and will remain in Bhubaneswar overnight pending further discussions with the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Hugh Morris, the ECB's managing director of England cricket, said: "On behalf of the Board and the England team, we would like to express our condolences to the families and friends of those people who were killed or injured in last night's attacks. The safety and security of the England team is of the utmost importance to ECB."

He added: "We have reviewed all our security arrangements in the light of these attacks and will be taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the team.

"(on Thursday morning) I held initial discussions with the Hon Sec of BCCI, Mr N Srinivasan, as well as representatives from the Indian team management at the team hotel in Bhubaneswar.

"I have also briefed the England players and management on the situation as well as liaising closely with the ECB chairman and chief executive and the players' representatives.

"The events of Wednesday night were deeply distressing and the situation is still unfolding.

"We are urgently seeking information from expert sources regarding Wednesday night's attacks and will continue to hold further discussions with our colleagues from the BCCI over the next 24 hours."