New Zealand, Australia on standby for 2011 World Cup

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: February 22, 2010

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Wellington: Australia and New Zealand, scheduled to host the 2015 World Cup, are believed to be part of ICC’s contingency plan to host the 2011 World Cup, if the tournament needs to be shifted out of the sub-continent due to security threats.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive, Justin Vaughan, admitted that there were talks of a contingency plan involving Australia and New Zealand but he was hopeful that the tournament would go ahead as planned while adding that it was vital for the sport’s existence that India continued to host tours and events.

“You cannot move the timing of the tournament, in March-April, so really there’s only Australia-New Zealand and South Africa who could host it,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Vaughan, as saying. “Obviously, players need to be safe, but we cannot run away when a threat is made. By tightening the security measures around the teams we somehow have to make it safe, otherwise the sport will struggle to survive if we cannot find a solution.”

Vaughan asserted that the tournament would go ahead as planned. “We’ve got to find a way to make this work because Asia is the heartbeat of cricket in the present day. Obviously, players need to be safe, but we cannot run away when a threat is made,” he said.

Vaughan said that assessing security for New Zealand’s India tour would also be critical. “India is so important and you cannot envisage a scenario when you cannot tour India – it’s not worth thinking about,” he said. “The host’s security plans are vital. I’d go anywhere in the world if there was the right security plan. I’d go to Iraq, if the right security was in place.”

However, Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, was confident that major cricket nations would work in unison to ensure the World Cup did not fall prey to terrorism.

“The World Cup is the big piece of work that we have to deliver – and we intend to do so,” Lorgat told the Guardian. “The whole issue of security is dynamic, but we will assess it very carefully and implement whatever measures are necessary to ensure safety and security. I do not share the same concerns for India as Pakistan. We have established a quality network of security managers at each of the full member boards and through that we can develop a far better co-ordinated approach to safety and security.”

Security fears regarding the upcoming IPL have intensified after the 313 Brigade, Al-Qaeda’s operational arm in Pakistan, issued a warning to “the international community” not to send its representatives to major sports events being staged in India.

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