Rain forecast may cause delayed start of first Test

Intermittent rains on Tuesday and the prediction of more showers in the coming two days could disrupt the first cricket Test between India and England, beginning on Thursday.

Meteorological Centre Regional Director S R Ramanan told PTI that one or two spells of rains was suppose to lash city in the next 48 hours."For the next 48 hours, there would be one or two spells of rain and cloudy weather conditions would prevail due to activity of the North East Monsoon over Tamil Nadu," he said.

"There is no alert of low pressure or depression in the Bay of Bengal. This is only a normal monsoon activity.

Gradual reduction of rain fall was expected from Thursday, the day that the first Test was to commence," he added.City has been experiencing intermittent rain forcing the Indian team to abandon their practice session, which was delayed from morning to the afternoon, while the England team already in the stadium also faced the same fate.

England team arrived here last night to commence their short tour of India with the first Test but was denied of any practice at the Chepauk grounds so far due to constant drizzle.

Reaching the stadium around 2.00 pm the English were forced to stay indoors at the stadium dressing room, while the Indian could have their sessions for over an hour and were forced to abandon it, also due to rain.In fact, the Indian team which was scheduled to have their practice session from 10.00 am rescheduled their plan to 12.30 pm this afternoon.

The two-Test series was originally scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad and Mumbai, but was shifted to Chennai and Mohali for security reasons after the Mumbai terror attacks.

India-England series should go on: ICC

The International Cricket Council on Sunday said the two-Test series between India and England should be held as scheduled provided there was enough safety and security for the players and officials.

The world governing body of the game expressed 'shock' over the Mumbai terror strikes and also promised to address the security issue which was affecting the game worldwide.

"If safety and security allow then I would urge the England Test tour of India to go ahead and if it does so then representatives of the ICC will be there to show solidarity with the competing teams," ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

"And if those Tests are played I would also urge supporters of the game to attend them as that will be the best way to send a message to those who seek to disrupt our way of life, that we will not be prevented from doing what we want or what we enjoy," Lorgat added.

Lorgat commiserated with India in the wake of the Mumbai mayhem which claimed nearly 200 lives but urged cricket playing nations not to let terror affect the game in any part of the world.

On behalf of the ICC, I would like to offer the condolences and sympathy of the entire cricket world to Mumbai and to India in the wake of the terrible events of the last few days."Sadly, terrorism appears increasingly to be a fact of life that we must endure.

What we as a cricket family must do is to try, wherever possible, to rise above it and show that those who wish to perpetrate evil cannot win," he said.

Lorgat said they will ponder over the issue of security at next week's Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) meeting of the ICC to be held in South Africa."At that meeting I intend to raise the question of how we can all come together to address the challenges that the issue of safety and security brings to our game.

"Cricket is a common thread that binds all ICC Members and we must seek to ensure those ties endure. By doing so we will ensure our strong sport will grow even stronger," added Lorgat.

ICC also pledged support to the India and England cricket boards to help game get back on track.I have today written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) pledging whatever support the ICC can offer to help ensure that, if appropriate, cricket goes ahead."I have also written to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with a similar offer of support and solidarity," Lorgat said through the statement.

England ready for India tour after venue change

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has put an end to the speculations over England cricket team's returning to India for the two-Test series as it has agreed to send the team to India for the Test series.

The first Test that was to be played in Ahmedabad from 11 to 15 December has been shifted at Chennai, while Mohali will now be hosting the second Test starting from 19 to 23 December.

The three-day tour match has been called off.However, ECB will be sending their security consultant for discussions with the Authorities in India before final clearance is given for the Tour.