England will fly into Abu Dhabi tomorrow to begin their preparations for the two-Test series in India, according to a report in the United Arab Emirates.
England will fly into Abu Dhabi tomorrow to begin their preparations for the two-Test series in India, according to a report in the United Arab Emirates.
The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi claims England will train and play a warm-up game at the Abu Dhabi Cricket Club. It is claimed the team will then fly on to Chennai ahead of the first Test which is due to start on December 11, but had been in doubt after the team returned home following last week's terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
"It is a big honour for Abu Dhabi," said a club source. "It is an extremely safe environment and we want to make sure the players feel safe, but we will be taking nothing for granted and security will be very tight."
Talks continued yesterday between the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and various security agencies. England's one-day squad returned home on Saturday while security reports were assessed on the threat to the team if they return for the two-Test series.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have already changed the itinerary to reassure the tourists, with the first Test moved to Chennai from Ahmedabad, while the second Test has been moved from Mumbai to Mohali.
Reg Dickson, the England team's security advisor, has already flown to Chennai to assess the situation before heading on to Mohali. He will also relay the ECB's security requests should they return.
Meanwhile, legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who was born in Mumbai and owns a restaurant very close to the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel - one of the main targets of the terrorist attacks - has revealed he could not sleep when news first came through of the incidents.
Tendulkar, like all the India and England players, was told the horrific news on returning to their hotel in Bhubaneswar after the fifth ODI in Cuttack.
"Right after the match, we got to know of the attack and since then I have been disturbed," Tendulkar said. "I have been tracking the horrific images of mayhem on television. It saddened me to see my countrymen being targeted.
"I couldn't sleep all this time. I am numb, the images keep playing in my head. This was just not an attack on Mumbai, it is an attack on India."
Meanwhile, player safety has been lifted to top priority at the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations' executive meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, next week.
Tim May, the FICA chief executive, said: "It is a world significantly different now to what it was 15 years ago because of the threat of terrorism, so we need to discuss to what extent we will accept the level of threat has increased.
"There must be acceptance that there will be a risk wherever you play in the cricket world and to protect players as best you can. The difficult part is when is it too risky?'."
He added: "What happened last week has given the issue greater prominence. It was in our agenda three weeks ago, but has been escalated by the significance of the Mumbai attacks. Whereas Westerners might have in the past been the target in Pakistan, that was not the case in India. Now things have changed."
