We'll support England, but nerves abound

My first post outlined my misgivings about Ahmedabad as a Test destination. If someone had intimated moving the Test to Chennai I'd have been hugely enthusiastic. My wish came true. And I feel fairly rotten about it because the circumstances surrounding the change are not what anyone would have wished for.

Writing about cricket still seems strange. Sambit Bal's excellent column on this site summed up more eloquently and empathetically than I ever could the strange situation we were all put in. Various media outlets were in touch with me in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks asking whether the Barmy Army would still be going and what advice we would be giving. I understand full well the demands of rolling news, but it felt wrong to be talking about whether we would still tour as people were still being held in hotels in Mumbai.

I'm not sure at what point the balance tipped from this being a story about terrorism with a cricketing link to a story purely about cricket, but I reckon within three days that had happened. That in itself is a shame as the issue of sport soon eclipsed the pain and suffering of those involved. As it became the primary focus, attention turned again to whether we would still be going.

I'm in the process of rearranging everything to follow the series as planned. The inconvenience of that is tiny compared to the suffering of the people of Mumbai so it would be churlish to complain. There are the practical reasons to go ahead with the tour, such as booked flights and holidays, but there's also been an overwhelming feeling that we should support the team, support the people of India and show the terrorists we won't be put off.

All of which means I'm now being asked two different questions. Am I at all concerned and do I think enough has been done to take into consideration the safety of the fans? The only person I've heard mention the fans' safety was the legend that is Michael Vaughan. Has anyone else given us a second thought? Well if they have I've yet to see evidence of it. We don't want our own squad of commandos, but some reassurance they've actually given some thought to our safety would be nice.