Australian board to brief IPL players on safety issues

Cricket Australia (CA) has said it will work on safety issues with Australian players involved in the IPL, as well as with government and security officials, before they leave for this year's tournament. This follows a warning issued by the Shiv Sena, a Mumbai-based regional party, that Australians will be barred from playing matches in Mumbai in response to the recent attacks on Indians living in Australia.

James Sutherland, CA's chief executive, said he wanted to ensure the players understood their choices. "In a practical sense for us, the real issue is for our players to understand the gravity of the situation," he told AAP. "We will do our own research, talking to the security people we ordinarily talk to, government and other private sources, to really make a judgment and ensure our players are as best informed as possible before they take steps to go and play the IPL.

"The IPL is a different situation to an Australian cricket team tour of India and it's a decision very much for the players. We'll work closely with the players and the players' association to ensure that everyone has the best possible information about this.

"I'm sure that in saying this that the IPL and the BCCI will also be very closely supportive of us in making sure that we have the best information available."

Australian batsman Cameron White, part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, said the matter had not been discussed by the players. "I did see that [news of the Shiv Sena threat] but I don't really understand how it all works and what will actually happen so we'll just have to wait and see," White said. "At the end of the day, all the security measures will be put in place and it will be up to the individual whether they want to go."

White travelled to India with Victoria in October last year for the Champions League Twenty20. It was during their match against the Cape Cobras at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore that a security scare delayed the start, and White said he had been shaken by the experience.

"Probably for the first time seriously we had concerns about definitely playing the match at first," he said. "The game was delayed and we ended up going ahead because we got reassurance, security checks and everything like that so all we can do as players is put our trust in the security and go from there. So if the advice is right I guess we will play."