PREMIER John Brumby's decision to cancel the Mumbai leg of his India visit due to terrorist fears has raised concerns about the safety of cricketers in the country ahead of two major series.
The warning that terrorists could be preparing to strike India's financial capital this month or next moved Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association to hold a phone hook-up with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade yesterday afternoon, even though Australia's only game in Mumbai is scheduled for November 11.
Many of the world's best cricketers - including the Victoria and NSW teams - will be in India for the Champions League Twenty20 starting on October 8, but those games are confined to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi. That tournament is followed by seven one-day internationals between Australia and India. ''Happily for us we don't have any cricket in Mumbai in September and October,'' a CA spokesman said.
''It was sensible for us, since we were hearing via media outlets that a politician was cancelling a trip to a part of the world where we're due to play cricket in mid-November, to better understand why that decision was made.''
Authorities cancelled the Champions League last December after attacks in Mumbai.
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