Sydney, March 10 (IANS) Sri Lankan cricket coach Trevor Bayliss Tuesday joined fellow-Australians, umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Davis, and International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee England’s Chris Broad in criticising the security arrangements during last week’s terror attacks in Lahore.
Bayliss told reporters here that the two umpires and the match referee has told the the truth and his remarks come just when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has moved a censure motion against Broad at the next ICC meeting for his verbal outburst.

“All Chris Broad has done and so have the other officials is tell the truth as they saw it,” Bayliss said.

Bayliss also sounded a warning to other sports and organisers involved with events on the subcontinent, including the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi next year.

“There’s some big questions to be asked by the governing bodies of all the sports, not just cricket,” he said.

“I think this proves if cricket, which is the number one sport basically on the subcontinent, can get hit then any sport can get hit and especially any big sporting tournaments or the Commonwealth Games.”

The Lahore terrorist attack claimed eight lives and injured seven Sri Lanka players.

“What we saw from a terrorist point of view is they know no boundaries.

“It is the radicals that is the problem some countries in that region of the world are facing.

Chairman of the PCB, Ijaz Butt took exception to Broad going public with his views instead of mentioning in his report.

Broad told reporters in London after the March 3 ambush in Lahore that TV footage showed there was “not a sign of a policeman anywhere”, leaving him and fellow officials “sitting ducks”.

“Security measures were certainly less than when we were there for the Asia Cup in July last and when for the one-day series only a month before the attack,” Bayliss said.

Talking of the difference in the level of security in the first Test in karachi and for the second in Lahore, he said: “In Karachi we had the small trucks out in the front and some behind. We also had a truck either side of us with guys standing up through the roof with a fixed machine gun.

“That wasn’t there in Lahore so there was probably a little bit less in Lahore than in Karachi and definitely less than what was seen when we were there for the one-day series a month before.”

Bayliss also questioned the process for obtaining security advice on the subcontinent.

“Here in Australia they would get independent security advice. The advice over there was I think the two governments speaking together,” he said.

Asked if he was angry about the situation, he said: “I suppose yes, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

Bayliss, however, said most of the Sri Lankan players he had spoken to still planned to be a part of the Indian Premier League tournament in April-May.

“That’s more of an individual choice,” he said.

“I think that most of them are fairly keen that cricket must continue and that terrorism can’t stop sport and they should show a united front.