da blaze casino： BRISBANE – Australia’s cricketers will play in Sri Lanka next month eventhough three New Zealanders have withdrawn from the Champions Trophy forsafety reasons.
Michael Crutcher12-Aug-2002BRISBANE – Australia’s cricketers will play in Sri Lanka next month eventhough three New Zealanders have withdrawn from the Champions Trophy forsafety reasons.Craig McMillan, Matthew Horne and Brooke Walker were today left out ofthe New Zealand squad after making themselves unavailable for theInternational Cricket Council’s one-day tournament.The trio were part of the New Zealand squad which abandoned its tour ofPakistan in May when a bomb blast outside its Karachi team hotel killed14 people.”I don’t want to go into specifics and I’ve not needed counselling but… I didn’t think I was mentally ready to cope,” McMillan told NZPA.”It is only sport after all.”But the Australian Cricket Board, which cancelled its October Test tourof Pakistan last Friday, is satisfied with the security arrangements inSri Lanka.An ACB spokesman said the 14 players selected for the Champions Trophyfrom September 12-29 had not expressed any concerns about playing in SriLanka.Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Tim May said the NewZealand players would have taken a different view than the Australiansafter their Karachi experiences.”There is a clear differentiation with matters to be considered forAustralian players and New Zealand players,” May said.”They might be trying to manage a trauma of the past and, from ourperspective, we haven’t experienced any of those traumas first hand.”We have gone through an identical process for every tour where weassess security risks and we are quite satisfied with the security thatwill be offered to the players in Sri Lanka.”New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden said the Black Capswere not placed under any pressure to tour Sri Lanka.New Zealand cricket has experienced security problems in Sri Lanka, withtours in 1987 and 1992 disrupted by bomb blasts, while there was civilunrest in Colombo during the Black Caps’ latest tour last year.”It is accepted that when travelling overseas we cannot make anyabsolute guarantees about safety,” Snedden told NZPA.”When deciding whether to attend the tournament the safety of the teamwas our top priority.”We made a thorough assessment of risks to the team which includedspeaking to government agencies and a visit to Sri Lanka by team managerJeff Crowe and security adviser Reg Dickason, to speak to American,British and Australian Foreign Affairs staff and to check securityarrangements.”We have been advised that a ceasefire has been in place in Sri Lankasince February and the country is the most stable it has been for sometime.”Snedden said New Zealand Cricket accepted the decisions of McMillan,Walker and Horne.