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Tue, 29th Jul 2008  New Delhi: The Asian bloc of the cricketing world thinks Australia are being two-faced about their plans to tour India and not set foot in Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, even though recent bombings in India last week has also raised questions about security.
Cricket Australia, however, is not going to buy that argument of hypocrisy alleged by the sub-continent as well as some sections of the International Cricket Council, who are crying foul because of the Australian cricketers remained in India despite the bomb blasts in Jaipur during the Indian Premier League.
But as Cricket Australia's general manager told The Australian, every tour is assessed on its merits. "We only go where security advice tells us is safe," Young was quoted as saying by The Daily.
Young cited the example of the London bombings during the 2005 Ashes tour of England. "The same question was asked about the London bombings during the '05 Ashes tour when we did not go to Pakistan in March."
"We go through the same process every tour. It's as simple as that," Young explained.
Australia are to tour India immediately after the Champions Trophy for a four-Test series in October, and among the venues is Bangalore where serial blasts occurred on Friday.
Even state sides Victoria and Western Australia are about to tour India in the week between the end of the Champions Trophy and the beginning of the Australian tour, when the BCCI-run Champions League will take place.
Victoria have been rumoured to set base in Jaipur, the site of bomb blasts during the IPL tournament.
Victoria coach Greg Shipperd, who also coached the Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural season of the IPL, said the idea behind Victoria's base in Jaipur was of the newly built state-of-the-art academy in the city which is run by former Indian coach Greg Chappell, will provide their team with adequate facilities to prepare for the first edition of the Champions League.
"It's not something that I've discussed with Cricket Victoria or our team at this stage," The Australian quoted him as saying.
But the coach said their plans could change if directed otherwise. "Obviously if there was an escalation we'd change our view but at this stage we intend to compete in the tournament."
Western Australia coach Tom Moody, who was in charge of the Mohali team in the IPL, endorsed Shipperd's views. "We'll follow similar guidelines to Cricket Australia," Moody said. "Pakistan has a longer history of incidents than most other places."
The travel guidelines issued by the Australian government refers to Pakistan as an "avoid travelling there" zone, while there are no such warnings for India.
However, a team of Australian officials are to tour India on August 10 to assess the security situation, after which they will submit their report to Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricket Association.
Australia have also sent a separate team to review the situation in Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, after the ICC deemed the country safe to play the eight-nation event.
But most high-profile players are likely to back out if Cricket Australia abide by the ICC's verdict.  | 
