SYDNEY // Cricket Australia say they will seek expert risk assessment about the team's forthcoming tour of India after bomb attacks in New Delhi killed at least 20 people yesterday. Australia's 15-man squad is due to depart on Sept 21 and their main concerns focus around the third Test of the four-match series, scheduled to start in New Delhi on Oct 29. "We are concerned and saddened about the news that there has been these bombings overnight in New Delhi," the Cricket Australia public affairs manager Peter Young said.
"Whenever something like this happens we have a formal process that we invoke and we do that in conjunction with the Australian Cricketers Association. New Delhi is still a fair way off but it's obviously a concern. We'll get some specialist advice and seek to understand what's going on and what the risks are." Almost 100 people were injured in a series of at least five explosions that struck a park and shopping areas in New Delhi just after early yesterday evening, a prime time for weekend shoppers in the crowded city.
An Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the bombings in an e-mail sent to several Indian news organisations. Australia pulled out of a tour of Pakistan earlier this year, and were one of the five major cricketing nations who pressured the International Cricket Council (ICC) into delaying the Champions Trophy tournament which was due to be held in Pakistan this month. The ICC postponed the Champions Trophy for a year.
*AP
