 In what could come as a surprising move for the chances of the sub-continent to
host the World Cup of 2011, the Australia and the New Zealand Cricket Boards
have said that they are on a standby to host the edition of the tournament. The
chief executive of the New Zealand Cricket (NZC), Justin Vaughan confirmed
this development and said that while he was hopeful that the tournament continued
to be played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, they had been asked to remain
as stand-by for the same.
The issue has come to light with a threat from one of the extremists' elements
to the international sporting community to not tour India for any sporting event.
This has put the likes of IPL, Champions League T20 and even the likes of Commonwealth
Games and the Hockey World Cup on terror alert. With the World Cup almost 12
months to go, the chances of the sub-continent could still not be ruled out,
but it will not need a lot for the already jittery international cricketing
fraternity to think twice about the same.
Vaughan said that the timing of the World Cup had to remain as February-March,
and the only countries which can host the tournament during that period would
be Australia and New Zealand, apart from South Africa. However,
he also said that the players or cricket in general cannot run away from the
threats being made. He added, "By tightening the security measures around
the teams we somehow have to make it safe otherwise the sport will struggle
to survive if we cannot find a solution"
He also said that the sub-continent is at the centre of cricketing activities
and that cannot change. He said that if the security was right, the players
should not have any issues in visiting the sub-continent. He continued to reiterate
that the New Zealand team will go to India to play in their tours.
He said, "India is so important and you cannot envisage a scenario when
you cannot tour India - it's not worth thinking about."
Earlier, a report made by the players' unions of the Australian, English and
the South African sides has said that the threat perception in India was real
and security could not be totally guaranteed. The report was made by England's
security adviser, Reg Dickason. What is also a bother for the players'
association is that they are not recognised by the BCCI and hence they do not
have the security plans in place.
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