PERTH, Oct 21: Australia cricket officials said Monday they had increased security levels for Tuesday’s opening match of England’s Ashes tour following the Bali bombings earlier this month.

Captain Nasser Hussain’s England team have arrived in Australia for a five-Test series starting in Brisbane on Nov 7 and will play their first match at Lilac Hill, on the outskirts state capital of Perth, against an ACB Chairman’s XI.

Lilac Hill festival match organising committee chairman John Moody said his committee had liaised in detail with the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) and the ACB for the 13th annual fixture.

“Not only as a result of the recent tragedy (in Bali), but generally speaking the issue of player security has been very much to the forefront, first of all from the ICC and then down through the ACB to the WACA and to us,” Moody said Monday.

Moody said a substantial number of security staff had been hired for the match.

“We’re aware of course of the VIPs, both players and special guests, and over the years we’ve increased the security aspect,” Moody said.

More than 180 people, including at least 103 Australians, were killed in nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia earlier this month.

Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard said on Sunday his government had to stay committed to the US-led war on terror and warned there was an increased risk of an attack on Australian soil.

The Bali attack on Oct 12 was Australia’s bloodiest day since World War Two.

WACA chief executive Kath White said: “It (security) has been heightened a little bit but not over the top.

“We just want to ensure everything is as safe as possible for the spectators and the players in a festival atmosphere,” White added.

Meanwhile, England’s opening batsman Michael Vaughan will miss tour opener because of a knee injury but hopes to be fit for the two-day match against Western Australia. —Reuters