CA: Tour on unless otherwise persuaded ( cricket)

by true_frnd Mon Sep 15, 2008 3:16 am

CA said the serial blasts in Delhi will have no impact on the team's upcoming India tour, unless it is otherwise persuaded.

He said Australia's tour is on and as scheduled, the team was planning to leave for the subcontinent on September 21."Our
position is that the tour is going ahead unless we are otherwise
persuaded," CA's General Manager of Public Affairs Peter Young said."Our
advice is there are some concerns and to exercise caution, but
currently they do not compromise the tour. Our plan is to depart on
September 21 subject to our advice," he added.CA officials are
scheduled to meet the representatives of Australian government today to
take an update on the safety situation in India.CA's General
Manager of Cricket, Michael Brown is also expecting a report tomorrow
from team's security advisor, Reg Dickason, who was asked to compile an
urgent report on the security situation in India.Australia A is currently in Hyderabad for a one-day tri-series, involving India A and New Zealand A teams.Meanwhile,
the senior Australian team is scheduled to play warm-up games in the
cities of Jaipur and Hyderabad, which were rocked by bomb blasts last
year and CA is hoping to collect more information on the situation in
the country from members of the A squad."The threat assessment
for India has been considerably lower than that of Pakistan,"
Australian Cricketer's Association Chief Executive, Paul Marsh was
quoted as saying by the Australian media. "We want to find out if the
latest bombings will change that in any way and what our independent
experts think about our Australia A players being over there at the
moment."As always we'll rely on the advice of the experts. Our
primary concern at the moment is the A team being over there and trying
to get an idea whether it's an acceptable risk for them to stay," he
said.Marsh also said the threat perception towards India is not
as bad as in neighbouring Pakistan but he expects some criticism if
Australia embarks on India tour as per schedule."I expect there will be heat if we decide to tour," said Marsh."If
the team stays in India, there might be some who criticise us for
double standards. But people need to understand our starting point is
that we always want to tour."We go to extreme lengths to obtain
the best advice on the situation of each country we visit. In
Pakistan's case this year, people we rely on told us not to tour. If
they say not to tour again, we'll listen. Bombs going off anywhere are
a concern," he said.