Australia confirm participation in Champions Trophy

Australia confirmed its participation in the ICC Champions Trophy in India in October, allaying fears that teams might pull out due to security reasons due to the recent bomb blasts in Mumbai.

Creagh O' Connor, Cricket Australia (CA) president, confirmed this in a letter to Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, and expressed his condolences with the victims of the blast. Mumbai is scheduled to host five matches in the tournament, including the final. It will also host Australia's second match on October 18.

"Cricket Australia looks forward to joining the BCCI and the globe's other cricketing nations at the ICC Champion's Trophy in a few months, to help you demonstrate that there is more to be gained by coming together to celebrate our diversity than there is in senseless violence which simply sets people apart," O'Connor wrote. "All of us at Cricket Australia were deeply shocked to hear the tragic news of shameful bombings in the cricket-loving city of Mumbai."

Earlier, Paul Marsh, chief executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA), expressed concerns over the tour after it was reported in a daily that the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warned tourists travelling to India to be cautious. Marsh was confident that CA's pre-tour security delegation would provide the right advice for the players.

Meanwhile, Peter Chingoka, chairman of the Zimbabwe Cricket interim committee too expressed his condolences in a letter to Pawar. He wrote, "The cricket fraternity in Zimbabwe and on my own behalf, please accept our message of support and sympathy for the Indian cricket community, following the bomb blasts in your country."