LONDON, Dec 6: English county Middlesex will discover future of postponed Champions League in India on Dec 12.
The decision will be made by the officials from India, Australia and South Africa following a conference call. The eight-team competition would have run from Dec 3 to 10, but Mumbai terror attacks forced a rethink.
Javed Akhtar, a Champions League spokesman, said: “There will be increased security at all levels. I think the teams will have no issues.”
The Champions League summit will be chaired by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and feature representatives from Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA).
Pakistan and England also have teams in inaugural edition of Twenty20 tournament. However, both Middlesex and Pakistan’s Sialkot Stallions will have to wait until after meeting as they are not the founding board members of the Champions League.
Middlesex, who qualified for competition by winning English cricket’s domestic Twenty20 Cup in July, are optimistic they will be able to travel to India.
Club’s chief executive Vinny Codrington said: “We will liaise closely with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in relation to the security side of the things [in India].
“Clearly we have to go through same due diligence that England management have done with the players. But in their heart of hearts players will want to go back and prove that they can compete against the best.”
Akhtar said he was hopeful positive intent shown by Kevin Pietersen’s squad would boost confidence among other teams scheduled to play cricket in India.
Reports suggested a re-organised tournament could begin in the third week of January, but Akhtar said it was “premature to talk about” revised dates.
“That is one of things to be decided on Dec 12, along with issue of whether the same venues will continue to be used.”
Tim May, former Australian player who runs the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA), remained cautious, describing India as a “relatively volatile sort of landscape”.—Agencies































