Thaindian News

Melbourne, Feb 23(ANI): With the security of international players in India under scrutiny, the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) has decided to hand over a list of safety demands to the authorities of Indian Premier League (IPL) for the tournament, which starts on March 12.

The decision comes after a meeting between ACA chief executive Paul Marsh and Australia’s IPL representation, the majority of whom said they were concerned.

“From the outset, it is important to reinforce that players want to play in this year’s IPL, however the independent report has identified some serious concerns with aspects of the current security process,” Fox Sports quoted Marsh, as saying.

“Specifically these concerns relate to the reported direct threat against the event and the status and implementation of the IPL’s security plan. The process from here is for all players associated to meet with their player groups and for all of us to feed back the concerns raised from these meetings to the IPL.”

“This will be co-ordinated through our peak body, the Federation for International Cricketers’ Association (FICA). From here we will await a response from the IPL,” he added.

The IPL in the past has refused to communicate with FICA and that could well prove a major stumbling block in any attempt to ensure players turn out in the competition’s third season.

Earlier, Marsh had said that he was unable to say whether the union would advise players to withdraw from the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.

“We’re not in a position to talk about it right now. I’ve just received it and I’m working my way through it,” Marsh had said. (ANI)