November 14, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 8, 1423

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NEW DELHI, Nov 13: The Indian cricket board cannot afford any more crowd disturbances in the one-day series between India and West Indies, a senior official said Wednesday.

“We have always condemned such behaviour, whether they are big or small,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Karunakaran Nair said.

“We have appealed to every centre that even if these are isolated incidents, we can’t afford to take any chance,” he said.

“Although security is a police matter, we will be proactive. If even a stray incident is going to stop a match, it is very serious,” he said.

The third one-dayer in Rajkot Tuesday was forced to be abandoned after some spectators threw missiles on West Indies fielders, after the earlier two games in Jamshedpur and Nagpur had also been affected by crowd trouble.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has asked the BCCI for an explanation on the incidents and said it was looking at expanding its powers to remove international status from such venues.

The ICC has also asked the BCCI for details of additional security being planned for the rest of the seven-match series.

Nair said poor behaviour by a few spectators had affected the image of the country and that of the staging centres.

“We will be reporting to ICC on an ongoing basis for the better conduct of the remaining matches,” he said.

West Indies captain Carl Hooper refused to send his team back on to the field after play was halted in Rajkot.

Match referee Mike Proctor then declared India winners on the basis of the Duckworth/Lewis method used for rain-hit games, saying players cannot be held responsible for crowd trouble.

But former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding said such a decision would only encourage the crowd to repeat such acts when it found the hosts were ahead.

“I truly believe if an example had been set at the first instance in Jamshedpur, it would not have recurred,” Holding, who is doing commentary in the series, said in his newspaper column.

Both in Jamshedpur and Nagpur, play was resumed after crowd interruptions and the visitors went on to win.

“I would have preferred to see some action taken then (in Jamshedpur) instead of the resumption of the game and the crowd being given the additional entertainment.

“Very shortly, spectators will be seen going into the one-day venues with computers with the Duckworth/Lewis formula in hand and constantly keeping in touch with the proceedings.

“Whenever their team is in front, they will just throw a few missiles, get the game called off and their team ends up the winners,” he wrote in the Hindustan Times.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, also writing in that newspaper, urged fans to hand over miscreants to the authorities.

“It is the reluctance of the majority to stop the minority of the mischief-makers in the crowd that leads to the situation we have seen, not just in these three matches but also in the past,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, Indian officials refused to reschedule the series.

“There is no threat to the series, it will be completed as scheduled,” said Nair.

BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said he had spoken to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on the phone to ensure the untoward incidents of the first three matches were not repeated.

“We are happy the Gujarat government has agreed to our suggestions to increase security in Ahmedabad and Baroda,” Dalmiya said.

“We have also issued necessary instructions to the staging associations to install close-circuit cameras as strategic points in the stadiums, so that mischief-mongers can be identified.”

Dalmiya met the country’s sports minister Vikram Verma here Wednesday and apprised him of the steps being taken to prevent any further trouble.

Ahmedabad will host a day-night match on Friday, followed by day games in Baroda (Nov 18), Jodhpur (Nov 21) and Vijayawada (Nov 24).—Reuters/AFP