Different strokes for different blokes

Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison have refused to return to India to play the Test series, while captain Kevin Pietersen says he8217;s game, as the ECB has all but decided to send the team back to complete the tour, according to reports.

Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison have refused to return to India to play the Test series, while captain Kevin Pietersen says he8217;s game, as the England and Wales Cricket Board ECB has all but decided to send the team back to complete the tour, according to reports.

ECB managing director Hugh Morris said the board would make a decision only after their security consultant Reg Dickason had made an assessment. 8220;Clearly, we are committed to going back and playing in a Test series if it is safe to do so,8221; Morris said after the team8217;s arrival at Heathrow late Saturday night. However, a report in the Sunday Telegraph said the assessment was just a formality and the board had already made up its mind to send the team back.

It also claimed that all-rounder Flintoff and fast bowler Harmison were expected to pull out, citing their children and wives as the prime consideration. 8220;Harmison has pulled out of tours before, but Flintoff8217;s absence would deprive England of their best bowler in Indian conditions,8221; the report said.

8220;A lot hinges on the attitude of captain Pietersen, but assuming he is persuaded by the ECB of the enormous compensation which would be demanded by the Indian board and falls in line, the rest of the England party will follow his lead,8221; it said.

For his part, Pietersen, though shaken by the recent terror attacks in Mumbai, said he was ready to go back if Dickason cleared the tour. 8220;We can8217;t allow these cowards to run our game,8221; Pietersen wrote in the News of the World. 8220;It puts it all into perspective when you see blood on the streets. But if Reg gives us the OK, then I8217;ll be back for the two Tests8230;He has been around the block and I trust his judgement 100 per cent. If he says it is safe to go back to India for the first Test in 11 days, you can count me in,8221; he added.

Pietersen said it was a close shave for the English cricketers. 8220;We were 800 miles from the attack but suddenly we felt very vulnerable, especially as we had stayed at the targeted Taj Mahal hotel just two weeks ago. It could have been one or all of us being carried out in a body bag. And when you see something like that you sense danger around every corner,8221; he added.

8220;And when you hear that the terrorists are singling out English tourists it sends a shiver down your spine. In cricket-mad India who could be more high profile than the England team? And who could be more high profile than their captain? It makes my blood run cold,8221; Pietersen said.

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However, his predecessor Michael Vaughan cautioned that playing in India after the recent events would be like being in a 8220;military camp8221;.

8220;The tour, if it goes ahead, will become like a military camp,8221; Vaughan said, even as he doubted if the Indians were themselves prepared to play after the mayhem. 8220;And what about the Indian players? You8217;ve got to feel for those guys. Some of them live in Mumbai like Sachin Tendulkar. It has to have an effect on the Indian players,8221; he was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph8217;

Kolkata to host first Test?

Meanwhile, sources in the BCCI say the venue of the first Test, scheduled to begin on December 11, could be shifted to Kolkata from Ahmedabad. The second Test, initially scheduled to be held for Mumbai, has already been shifted to Chennai.

ICC says Tests should go on

The International Cricket Council has also said that the Test series should go on, provided there was enough safety and security for the players and officials. 8220;If safety and security allow then I would urge the England Test tour of India to go ahead and if it does so then representatives of the ICC will be there to show solidarity with the competing teams,8221; ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.