Should they stay or should they go?

We are all still waiting to hear whether England will be heading to India to honour their Test series. The latest information is that they could be flying to Abu Dhabi tomorrow, if they can get a flight, and using it as a holding base for nets and acclimatisation while final security checks are made and then, possibly, heading on to Madras on Monday.

The feeling among the players' agents I have spoken to is that their men want to play for England, are concerned about security but will go if the ECB and PCA, the players' union, say it is safe to do so. There are some waverers, although not the five that Dominic Cork suggested yesterday, but it is likely that the full squad will fly to Abu Dhabi even if some, such as Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff, then decide not to carry on to India. A few fast bowlers from the Performance Squad have been put on stand by (they have visas for India anyway) and could replace anyone who doesn't want to tour.

I suppose my feelings on this are that it is completely understandable that some players, especially those with children, are reluctant to put themselves at risk. They should not be criticised if they decide to stay at home, although I would be furious if Harmison or Flintoff dropped out of this but continued to say they wanted to play in the IPL. I think we can guarantee that India won't be much safer come April. But if players do put their safety and their families' peace of mind ahead of the riches they could earn in the IPL, then all credit to them.

However, while they would clearly be an attractive target for terrorists, let us not forget that England will be far better protected, especially now, than any other people in India, westerners or locals. They may feel edgy playing alone in the middle, having been escorted to the boundary rope by an armed commando, but will still be safer than anyone outside the ground. And while it was concerning to hear reports from Mumbai about the terrorists deliberately targeting Britons and Americans, only 22 of the nearly 200 dead were foreign nationals. The scale of the attacks was shocking, but it appears that the killing was pretty wanton and untargeted.

The reason why terrorist attacks are mercifully so few and far between is that generally terrorists, or certainly those who carry out the actions, are stupid and disorganised. The security services foil most planned attacks, but occasionally they don't. The fact that the Tests have been moved to new cities suggests that the terrorists would not have time to hatch new plans. They do, however, have three years in which to plan a campaign of terror for the World Cup in India, with the final due to be held in Mumbai. Fortunately, the security services and police also have three years to thwart them.

Comments

[Sunil Julka]

Any word from the Sky Sports / TMS teams as to whether any of their entourage don't fancy the trip out there? Presumably their contracts are less forgiving.