Plans afoot to stop award ceremonies

Sanjay Suri
India Abroad correspondent in London

One of the oldest traditions in cricket is threatened this summer as the England and Wales Cricket Board considers putting an end to award ceremonies at the end of matches.

"That is obviously an option if players cannot be safe even at an event like that," a spokeswoman from the ECB told rediff.com.

A decision will be taken soon following a series of meetings this week ahead of the Ashes series between England and Australia.

The move being considered is in line with suggestions put forward by the Australians, after someone hurled a beer can on to the balcony at Lord's when Australia were collecting their prizes after beating Pakistan in the final of the Natwest series. The beer can hit Michael Bevan on the cheek.

One of the options being considered is moving end-of-the-match presentations indoors with live telecast on screens on the ground, the spokeswoman said.

That will end the tradition going back more than a century of fans running on to the field and gathering below the balcony to cheer the awards.

There has never been this kind of trouble in an Ashes series. But ECB officials are reluctant to put separate sets of security rules into place depending on which country is playing.

Five Ashes Tests will be played in England over the next three months, with the first at Edgbaston in Birmingham from July 9. Model security measures will be taken ahead of this Test.

"We'll be having a full review of the NatWest tournament, which will include presentation ceremonies," Tim Lamb, chief executive of the ECB said in a statement.