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India tour future 'may be decided today'

01/12/2008

England may decide today whether or not to return to India to complete their tour, after a security assessment is conducted.

The two scheduled Tests between England and India have both been relocated to new venues, Chennai and Mohali, and the ECB are thought to be awaiting the outcome of the security report before confirming whether England will travel back to India.

The England players returned home on Saturday evening after leaving the country in the wake of the terrorist attacks which devastated Mumbai last week.

One of the targets – the Taj Mahal hotel – was where England had stayed on the tour and were planning to stay before the second Test in Mumbai.

Lalit Modi, the vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was adamant that England would return to play the remaining one-dayers and the two Test matches.

But the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director Hugh Morris insisted no player would be forced to go back.

"We have a team of people that we rely on for our safety and security information," said Morris.

"They're pulling that information together over the next 24 to 48 hours and, clearly, we'll assess that information when we have it.

"Would I go back? If it was safe and secure, absolutely. Clearly, we are committed to going back and playing in a Test series if it is safe to do so.

"But I do not think we would force anybody to do anything. There's a degree of nervousness, there's no doubt about that. That's only natural. It's affected everybody."

The security report will be conducted by security expert Reg Dickason and a final decision will be made in conjunction with the ECB, BCCI and the British and Foreign Commonwealth Office.