Cricket: Security the top tour priority

The revelation New Zealand A cricketers Neil Broom and Aaron Redmond slipped out for a boozy night handing out rupees on the poverty-stricken streets of Chennai in August has highlighted a modern problem - balancing security with the human need of enjoying an overseas tour.

Broom and Redmond were "busted" for breaching curfew, as revealed last weekend, and there is no doubt that security is uppermost in the minds of those overseeing tours.

But the cost is a team largely locked away, unable to enjoy sightseeing or cultural opportunities in the host country.

New Zealand Cricket Players Association boss Heath Mills advises caution with the liberal approach for touring teams.

"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."

Mills says that's highlighted by the forced postponement of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan last year.

The explosion at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was followed by gunmen attacking the Sri Lankan team in Lahore earlier this year.

"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.

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

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. Most players are playing up to 11 months of the year as opposed to when there might only have been one tour every couple of years.

"When a tour is planned, interacting with the locals isn't high on the 'things to do'. The other stuff would be nice but I'm not sure that's a requirement. You want teams to be safe and you want them to win."

"Having said that, it's not impossible or inflexible - it might be that you go out in groups of four or so and the security manager accompanies you."

However, a differing school of thought says players need more opportunities to experience a country and to enjoy entertainment and cultural opportunities - because it allows minds to broaden, leaving teams with players who are less robotic and with a greater sense of responsibility.

New Zealand Cricket CEO Justin Vaughan raised the point last week that, alcohol-fuelled misdemeanours aside, it is unpleasant when players are constantly locked into a secure environment.

Former New Zealand representative John Morrison feels the insulation has become too restrictive.

"I might be tainted by the amateur days, and we did go out a lot, but to expect young men to always be goody-goodies gets a bit sickly. Twenty or 30 years ago, they would've just said 'look guys, that was a bit bloody stupid,' but no-one would have got into a cold sweat about it.

"Players would once come up for a drink after a day's play in their number ones with sponsors, administrators and fans but it seldom happens now. Today, it's tracksuits on and out to the bus, back to the hotel."

Morrison acknowledges the security risks but is concerned a cloak of cotton wool has enveloped the players.

"I remember the opening of the academy at Lincoln a few years back when Dayle Hadlee was in charge. They took us through the facilities where players would come in as part of a batch for six or so months. They asked for questions at the end of the tour, so I said 'how do you cater for these young men's social needs?'

"I was looked at sternly and asked 'what do you mean?' so I said 'do I have to spell it out? What happens when they have a few and get lucky at the pub?' and Dayle said 'I don't think that's appropriate, Mystery'.

"So I said I wouldn't want to come there aged 21 to be locked up for six months, I'd go bloody mad."

Morrison says without achieving an acceptable balance, New Zealand's approach will foster players as "cricket clones" rather than players with character and life experience.

He cites the likes of Shane Warne and Ian Botham in days gone by who provided good media copy and brought thousands of fans through the gate.

"I think we're removing the Black Caps from Joe Public, which is the heart and soul of the support.

"The administrators sometimes forget that. They're fit young men and I know what I'd want to be doing after play if I was them."

Auckland leg-spinner Tarun Nethula, who emigrated from India as a teenager, sums up his experiences travelling with that New Zealand A side in August.

"You went as a 'rock star' really, given most of the side had played international cricket. We did get good treatment.

"However it is restrictive getting outside the bus and the hotel, which is understandable in light of recent events.

"But in my experience, there were no dramas, really. The crowd would help you for the most part. There's the odd hustler but that could happen anywhere."