West Indies have nothing to fear but cricketers

Finally, apparently begrudgingly, one man short, and only just, the West Indies have left their sunny islands in the Caribbean for Sri Lanka. If you believe what the doom-doctors have been saying during recent weeks, they will spend most of the next seven-weeks looking over their shoulders for Bin Laden look-alikes and cowering in their plush five-star hotels.

During past weeks, in the aftermath of the September 11 bombings, widespread doubts had been raised by some commentators and players about the wisdom of touring Asia, or "in the region," as they put it. Suddenly, the first West Indies tour of Sri Lanka for eight years, and the first ever three-Test series between the two sides, looked likely to be cancelled.

Thankfully, for cricket lovers and the penny-strapped Sri Lankan cricket board, surely the most enchanting tour in the forthcoming international schedule, was saved 10 days ago by discussions between cricket board officials from both countries during the ICC meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

We don't know exactly what was said, though we can assume the milder-mannered Sri Lankans are unlikely to have adopted the bullish approach used by Jagmohan Dalmiya, who twisted the arm of English Cricket Board (ECB) with threats of retaliation, but the West Indian officials were probably quietly informed that, although Sri Lanka was "in the region," it was actually thousands of kilometers away from Afghanistan. In fact, in comparative terms, the distance is only just short of the distance between London and Kabul and much, much greater than that between Barbados and the US, the number one terrorist target in the world.

Culturally and ethnically it is also a world away. Only seven per cent of the population are Muslim and they have not shown any violent inclinations since the US led invasion of Afganistan.

Frankly, a cancellation of the tour because of hostilities in Afganisatan would have been ridiculous, and the West Indian board officials have realised that in time and successfully bundled the team on to the plane on Tuesday night.

It wasn't an easy task, though. For a start, a handful of the players were carrying injuries, including star batsman Brian Lara, who has decided to tour anyway; Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who has backed out with a lower back problem; and Ridley Jacobs, the only wicket-keeper, whose injured thumb prevented him from keeping wicket throughout a week-long training camp.

Unfortunately, new safety fears were fuelled by the announcement of fresh elections in Sri Lanka. Hurried changes were made to the itinerary so as to avoid potential election hot spots, and the players were promised bodyguards. The WICB announced themselves satisfied with the measures taken and the tour remained on.

After Lara and Jacobs' presence was confirmed, the West Indies sports therapist, Ronald Rogers, would have started to relax, but over the weekend, another tourist, Jamaican Wavell Hinds, who was to have been the replacement for Chanderpaul, walked into a short delivery from the 48-year-old former West Indian fast bowler Joel Garner in a festival match and broke his nose. He will now join the team later after surgery on Friday.

Then, just when the players were packing their suitcases, a suicide bomber exploded himself in a foiled attempt to assassinate the Sri Lankan Prime Minister in Colombo. By that time, though, it was too late to pull out, although there are bound to have been mutterings of disquiet.

Marlon Samuels may well have been glued to CNN World News after the bombing because he then contrived to miss his connecting flight to Barbados on Monday, although a local Jamaican newspaper reported that the real reason had been that he had got "stuck in road-works" on his way to Norman Manley Airport.

The team arrives in Colombo on Thursday morning. A Sri Lankan board release today informs potential prying journalists that "the West Indies team will be fatigued," which is quite understandable considering the confusing two weeks they have just been put through.

Let us hope that they can quickly settle down and put aside whatever misconceptions they may have about Sri Lanka. Yes, there will be disturbances because of the elections. There could even be further bombs, but none of these are going to be directed anywhere near the cricketers. During the past two decades of internal conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, no touring cricketer has been killed, injured or threatened.

No, their safety cannot be guaranteed 100 per cent, but nor can it anywhere else in the world, and Sri Lanka is no more dangerous than any other cricketplaying country in the world at the moment.

Furthermore, West Indian cricketers are revered in Sri Lanka. When cricket was taking off in the island after full Test status was granted in 1982, the West Indies were the "Harlem Globetrotters" of world cricket, and the Sri Lankans could not help but admire the cocksure and natural way they played the game. Even though the team has been in decline since the late 1990's they remain a big hit and will be treated with hospitality wherever they go.

Well, almost everywhere. Since they last toured, in 1993, times have changed; local cricketers have hardened up and learnt a new aggressive brand of cricket. Indeed, armed to the teeth with a host of strokeplayers, an exciting battery of young fast bowlers (I wonder who inspired that development?) and the best off-spinner in the world, Sri Lanka's cricketers represent the real and only threat to the West Indian's peace of mind.