Cricket: Security the top tour priority

Wellington, Nov.29 (ANI): New Zealand Cricket Players Association boss Heath Mills has advised caution on taking a liberal approach to touring teams and their security.

"It's a different world to touring back then [in the amateur days] with the level of terrorist activity players are exposed to now. New Zealand's had its fair share. Security is the biggest issue in sport. If we can't look out for the participants, the officials and the public, we're not going to be able to play sport in some countries," the New Zealand Herald quoted Mills, as saying.

Mills says the forced postponement of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan last year is a case in point.

Gunmen attacking the Sri Lankan team in Lahore earlier this year followed the explosion at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

"There were bugger-all security measures in place. The Sri Lankan team just went, there was no planning and the team was 'got to' easily. If it wasn't for the fact one of the grenades on the bus didn't go off, we'd be dealing with mass murder - not a few injured players," Mills said.

"No one ought to be questioning whether we should have security management in place, they should be demanding we have the best practices possible," he added.

Mills says it's not a New Zealand Cricket priority to add cultural experiences to a list of tour goals.

"It's a romantic idea but the primary responsibility is for the safety of players in their workplace," he said. (ANI)