England abandon one-day series

England have cut short the ongoing one-day series against India following Wednesday's terrorist strikes in Mumbai but the Indian board remained hopeful that two-Test series, scheduled to begin on December 11, can yet be salvaged.

The decision to abandon the remaining two ODIs of the seven-match series was taken during a meeting between BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, England's managing director Hugh Morris, and the Indian team management in Bhubaneshwar. England will not travel to Guwahati this afternoon as scheduled and will remain in Bhubaneshwar overnight, while further discussions with the BCCI take place. "The safety and security of the England team is of the utmost importance to ECB," Morris said. "We have reviewed all our security arrangements in the light of these attacks and will be taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the team."

The Indian team, which had a meeting mid-day, was informed by the BCCI about England's position. "We have been told England are going back home. So we are going to our homes," Venkatesh Prasad, India's bowling coach, told Cricinfo. As of now, the Indian team has been asked to assemble in Ahmedabad on December 8, three days before the scheduled start of the first Test start against England.

Morris briefed the England team and management after the meeting with Srinivasan. "We are urgently seeking information from expert sources regarding last night's attacks and will continue to hold further discussions with our colleagues from the BCCI over the next 24 hours." Morris said. He added that the ECB will wait on their own security report before deciding on their next move regarding the Test series.

The ICC said they had "no role to play in the current situation" regarding the England tour of India. "The arrangements for the tour itself is strictly a bilateral matter," an ICC spokesperson said. "The only time we would play a part is if there is a disagreement between the boards about whether the tour would proceed or not. In that case there would be a security assessment binding with the two boards."

Meanwhile, England's High Performance squad's tour has been called off and the players, currently training in Bangalore, will travel home immediately. The squad, which includes Michael Vaughan, Monty Panesar and Andrew Strauss, was scheduled to reach Mumbai on December 3 to play a practice game and train with the England Test side.

The strikes, including blasts and shooting incidents, were spread out across the city but the majority of them were in south Mumbai, the main tourist hub. In the early hours of Thursday morning, a major blaze was sweeping through the Taj Mahal hotel, a city landmark and the scene of one such attack, which was to host the two Test teams and was where the England side stayed during their warm-up period in Mumbai.

It is also where Middlesex were set to check-in on Thursday for their Champions League fixtures. Middlesex were due to leave London for Mumbai at 10am on Thursday to prepare for the Champions League but postponed their departure by 24 hours after being told that matches scheduled for Mumbai would be switched to Bangalore.

The Brabourne Stadium, venue of the second Test and scheduled to host three Champions League games, is in the middle of the area where most attacks have taken place. It is also the vicinity where most foreign tourists are likely to stay.