LONDON, Nov 28: Former England cricket captain Ian Botham has said that it was a crying shame to see his country’s side cancelling the two last ODIs in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes.

He said that the world should not succumb to terror incidents and that cricket should not be affected.

“I think it would be a crying shame if they are forced to call things off at the hands of terrorists. We have to remember what happened in 2005 when a bomb went of in England during the Ashes tour, but the Australians remained and continued with their series,” he said and added: “We don’t succumb to it in England and I do believe that if the team have the assurances of safety and security then why shouldn’t they play? Why should we fall foul of terrorists and dance to their tune?

“It is a difficult time for the England squad and they will feel uneasy about what has happened. I can understand why they will head home and take stock for a few days, but the news that they are planning on returning to play the Tests is encouraging. Our cricket team are full of character and now they will get a chance to clear their heads before the Test series is scheduled to begin,” The Mirror quoted Botham as saying.

He further said that what had happened in Mumbai was simply “a great tragedy” and an atrocious violation of the Indian people. “It is an awful set of incidents to hit this part of the world and the Indian people are wonderful, so friendly and warm, and they don’t deserve this anymore than any other nation does. These recent events are absolutely terrible and I totally abhor what is going on, but the terrorists want us to be scared and to hide away, so why should we?” he added.

The English veteran said that terrorism was something that “we as a world need to stand up against and fight. It is sadly something we’ve got to live with and we have done so in places like England and India for many years.”—Agencies