The terrible events in Mumbai have brought the England cricket tour of India to a close and the tourists have returned home. Two One Day Internationals have been abandoned but no one is too bothered about that with England five down and facing a whitewash. Two test matches are currently planned for the 11th and 19th December in Ahmedabad and Chennai with a warm-up match at Baroda still to be scheduled. There is talk of returning for these matches and the current view seems to be that it will be left to the players to decide.

Our players doubtless feel a powerful urge to support our Indian friends in their time of need as well as a wish to express a defiant rejection of terrorist threats to freedom and to cricket itself. They may feel it is their moral duty to return to India and show the terrorists that their ugly ways will not bully us into submission.

Our Cricket Players Safety is Paramount

I don’t know about my fellow cricket betting enthusiasts but I am amazed that there is even consideration being given to their return. There is a clamour in India that the perpetrators of the Mumbai atrocities, allegedly Pakistani nationals, must be avenged. As I write, Indian troops are amassing along the Pakistan border. It is said that the terrorists were looking for US and British citizens and singling them out for slaughter. Our cricket team would be prime targets for any further residual aggression and the assassination of just one of them would be a huge scalp for the fanatics and seen as a massive blow against British interests and morale.

And quite apart from this, it would be impossible for either team to focus on the exacting demands of Test cricket under these circumstances, and I’m certain our Indian allies would accept and support a postponement of these matches until the dust has settled.