JOHANNESBURG, June 1: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been unable to provide guarantees that South Africans Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje will not be arrested when they arrive in India for a tour starting in November.

Opening batsman Gibbs and spinner Boje were implicated in the match-fixing charges that brought down late South African captain Hansie Cronje on the country's last tour to India, in 2000.

Gibbs, who accepted an offer of money from Cronje to under-perform, was banned for six months by the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB) but Boje escaped punishment as there was no evidence linking him to match-fixing.

UCB media manager Gerald de Kock said on Tuesday that a letter had been sent to the BCCI in March requesting clarification on whether Gibbs and Boje could be taken in by Indian police. The UCB received a reply saying the BCCI did not think there would be a problem.

"We sent them another letter saying we needed something more definite and requested guarantees from the Indian authorities," De Kock said. "We want the BCCI to get those guarantees from their authorities, or to put us in touch with someone who can give us assurances."

BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said from New Delhi on Tuesday: "How can we give the South African board assurances on police matters? What is our locus standi?" -Reuters