Tour of India almost certain to be cancelled

Press, 20 October 1981, Page 36

Tour of India almost certain to be cancelled

NZPA-Reutcr Delhi It now seems certain that the England cricket tour of India will be cancelled because of a dispute over contacts with South Africa, although the Indian Government says an announcement will not be made for two or three days.

An eleventh-hour attempt is being made, in discussion with the England authorities, to find some way of saving the tour but this seems hopeless.

The cricket authorities in India are deeply pessimistic and disappointed.

The Indian Government objects to Geoff Boycott and Geoffrey Cook, who have both played in South Africa. There is no question of the players being dropped in deference to Indian objections.

The cancellation of the three-month tour, due to start on November 6, will be highly unpopular and a profound disappointment to millions of cricket followers in a cricket-loving country.

There has been no official statement that Boycott, of Yorkshire, and Cook, of Northamptonshire, are unacceptable, but the Indian Government neither confirms nor denies that its political committee decided to ban the players last week.

The cricketing relationship between the two countries is important and highly valued. English cricket is fully reported in the newspapers in India and its players are well known. Indian fans were especially looking forward to seeing players such as lan Botham and Boycott. Mr S. K. Wankbede, president of the Indian Cricket Control Board, said yesterday he had learnt unofficially that his Government would not allow Boycott and

Cook to play and he had relayed this to the Test and County Cricket Board in England.

A British member of Parliament yesterday made an urgent appeal to the British Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher, to intervene in a bid to save the tour.

Mr John Carlisle, the Conservative member for Luton West, has . urged Mrs Thatcher to immediately contact the Indian Prime Minister, Mrs Gandhi, asking her to use her influence to allow the tour to go ahead.

Mr Carlisle said; “This would be within the spirit of the 1977 Gleneagles Agreement which India and other Commonwealth countries again endorsed with their signatures only a matter of days ago. “This agreement says that governments should dissuade but not prevent people participating in international sport.” He added: “It would be a tragedy for international sport if politics were allowed to prevent the tour.”

England may come to New Zealand if its Indian tour is called off. At the week-end, the chairman of the New Zealand Cricket Council, Mr R. A. Vance, said consideration would be given to any request from England that its team come to New Zealand if barred from India.

Mr Vance said no approach had been made so far by the Test and County Cricket Board.

He added that if a request were made and accepted, a suitable time from New Zealand’s viewpoint would be between mid-December and the end of January. Australia is to tour here from February 13 to March 23.