Security fear over World Cup tie (31 May 1999)
England's humiliating defeat by India yesterday, which knocked them out of the cricket World Cup, set up a potentially volatile clash between the Indians and Pakistan
31-May-1999
31 May 1999
Security fear over World Cup tie
Mihir Bose, David Millward and Amit Roy
England's humiliating defeat by India yesterday, which knocked them
out of the cricket World Cup, set up a potentially volatile clash
between the Indians and Pakistan. The teams will meet next week with
their countries on the verge of war over Kashmir.
Police and tournament promoters will discuss urgently security
measures for the match at Old Trafford a week tomorrow. A ban on
alcohol at the ground is possible. But Michael Browning, the
tournament organiser, said last night: "There is no question of the
match not going ahead. The tournament will run its course."
The biggest problem will be how to keep the fans apart. Cricket,
unlike football, does not have a history of segregating supporters.
Although most tickets have been sold, it is believed that England's
elimination from the tournament could lead to many appearing on the
black market, making any attempt at crowd control even more difficult.
The tournament has been marred by a series of pitch invasions,
leading to criticism of security. There are about a million people of
Indian origin in Britain and about half a million of Pakistani
origin. Already there have been signs that many of the English-born
fans supporting teams from the sub-continent are bringing
soccer-style rivalry to the matches.
Yesterday, as England stumbled towards defeat by 63 runs at
Edgbaston, Indian fans started singing: "Stand up if you hate
Pakistan." There were also cries in Hindi, accusing the Pakistanis of
being cheats.
Greater Manchester police said: "We will be taking advice from all
the relevant bodies and put into place whatever increased measures
are felt necessary. It remains a cricket match and we will want it to
stay that way."
The Indian and Pakistani high commissions in London have worked hard
to defuse tension between their communities in Britain. Today the
Indian high commissioner, Lalit Mansingh, is to hold a party for
members of the Indian team. The Pakistan high commissioner, Riaz
Samee, is expected to be there.
Before the start of the tournament, Mr Mansingh attended a party at
the Pakistan high commission where he chatted with the leading
Pakistani players. Asian businessmen were also seeking to defuse talk
of violence, predicting an exciting game and emphasising that any
trouble would be the work of a few hotheads.
England's defeat will do nothing for sales of the team's song, All
Over the World, composed by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, which is
due for release.
But Terry Blake, the tournament's marketing director, said that the
World Cup finances were secure. "It is not the end of the world," he
said. "This World Cup will be the most profitable in the history of
cricket and will be watched by more people around the globe than any
other."
The money from sponsorship and television has been banked. While some
of the tickets for the next Super Six stage have not been sold, many
of them involve centres where India and Pakistan are due to play and
the organisers are sure that it will not be difficult to sell them.
BSkyB and the BBC remain optimistic that the tournament will continue
to appeal to viewers despite England's elimination. So far, viewing
figures have averaged 2.5 million per match on the BBC, peaking at
three million. BSkyB audiences have ranged between one and two
million.
England's failure to qualify for the second part of the tournament
has underlined the country's decline as a cricketing power, which
seemed to have been arrested by last summer's Test series triumph
over South Africa.
But the England captain, Alec Stewart, urged fans to keep a sense of
proportion. He said: "If England lose, it is a crisis and everything
has to be looked at. If South Africa had won, we would have
progressed and we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)