Cricket: Security in India for Kiwi IPL players

New Zealand players face the prospect of having to decide whether to head to India for next month's rich Twenty20 league without getting safety information from their own union.

This week, Indian Premier League (IPL) officials confirmed they would be putting security plans in place without involving the world players' association Fica.

That means New Zealand's seven contracted players with IPL franchise deals - captain Dan Vettori, vice-captain Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Heath Mills, Jesse Ryder, Jacob Oram and Scott Styris - will be asked to travel without getting the assurances they would expect through the usual channel.

And this has come a few weeks after the Lahore terror attack on the Sri Lankan team, and with the Mumbai tragedy in November still fresh in the mind.

"If the players association is not the funnel, then how does that information get to the players?" New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan asked last night. "We're still trying to figure it out and it's quite an awkward position we find ourselves in, but we'll find a solution."

The Board of Control for Cricket in India won't deal with players' associations. India does not have a players association and has told Fica to take a hike.

That probably means it will advise the relevant cricket boards to tell their players that all is secure. But there's a problem with that, as Vaughan acknowledged.

"India appreciate [the situation] in the wake of what happened in Lahore but just a simple 'trust us, it'll be okay', doesn't cut it," he said.

"In the end we just want to get the best for our players, get the level of comfort and information they need to be satisfied with how the IPL is going to operate."

The IPL is due to start on April 10, three days after India's third test against New Zealand ends in Wellington.

The Champions Trophy, switched this week to South Africa in September, is expected to be redrawn.

One was made for the troubled tournament when it was to be staged in Pakistan last year, based on world rankings, which had New Zealand grouped with South Africa, Sri Lanka and England.

Since then, New Zealand have slipped from third to fifth; South Africa have overtaken Australia as No 1; Pakistan are up to No 4, Sri Lanka have slipped to No 7 and India are up to No 3.

Sri Lanka was to have hosted the trophy in place of Pakistan before the International Cricket Council took a closer look and discovered that was one of Sri Lanka's rainier periods.

"The feeling of the [ICC chief executives] conference call this week was we needed to get on and make a recommendation rather than assessing what other options there might be," Vaughan said.

"A number of people thought South Africa would be a good host, and that time of the year was no problem."

Next year's world Twenty20 championship will run from April 30-May 16 in the Caribbean, with games to be played in Barbados, St Lucia, Guyana and St Kitts. The region will also host the women's equivalent tournament at the same time.