New Delhi, Feb. 1: Australian Cricketers’ Association on Monday asked the Indian Premier League authorities to show "common sense" and share the security plans with it in order to advice Australian players on their participation in the IPL-III starting next month.
ACA chief executive Paul Marsh said that the body and the Australian players want a successful IPL, but the Twenty20 league’s refusal to share security plans was taking the matter towards a "farcical situation".
"We hope common sense prevails and the IPL provides us with access to these plans because if we are unable to assess the event’s security plans, we simply won’t be able to recommend to our players that we believe it’s safe to play in this year’s IPL," Marsh said.
"Unfortunately this is turning into a farcical situation. The ACA and our players want the same thing as the IPL wants — a safe and successful event," he said.
"But despite requests from the players’ associations and the players themselves, the IPL authorities are refusing to provide access to their security plans for this year’s event," he added.
Marsh said that the ACA is currently gathering information from different sources before recommending anything to its players. "No decision has been made as to whether the Australians will play in this year’s IPL. The ACA is currently going through an information gathering process from which recommendations will be made to players as to whether or not we believe it is safe for them," Marsh said.
"This process also involves receiving advice from our government and independent security sources. It also involves assessing the security plans for the event," he said.
— PTI