Australia’s players are considering their involvement in the IPL this year following the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore

Brydon Coverdale in Durban04-Mar-2009Lee and Bracken want to play in IPLSeveral members of the Australian Test squad in South Africa may be rethinking their involvement in the IPL after the terrorist strikes in Lahore, but fast bowlers Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken remain interested in playing the Twenty20 tournament.Lee told the Australian newspaper, the , that he knew the security risks involved in visiting the subcontinent but “we can’t let this [terrorism] stop us going about what we do with our lives.”Bracken, who missed the tournament’s first season as he was recovering from a knee surgery, had similar views on the incident. “It’s concerning that terrorism is impacting the sport. But I’ll still be going,” the paper quoted him as saying.Former wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, though, remained circumspect about participating in the tournament. “I’ll try to gather more detail and learn more about the situation [and] then assess it from there,” he told the . Australia’s players are considering their involvement in the IPL thisyear following the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore. Thecaptain Ricky Ponting had already decided not to play this season because of his Australian commitments but he said his team-mates wouldbe thinking about whether they wanted to travel to the region so soonafter the Lahore shootout and the Mumbai terrorist attack.”I think there would have been enough concerns from the guys anywayafter Mumbai,” Ponting said. “That was still pretty fresh ineveryone’s minds I think and this one on top again. I’m not going to the IPL, a decision that was made a few weeks ago. Some of the other guys that potentially could be going there will have all those thingsnow that they’ve got to think about as well, more so than they didbefore.”Australia were on Wednesday practising in Durban ahead of the secondTest against South Africa and Ponting said his men would be keptabreast of the security situation in Asia by the AustralianCricketers’ Association (ACA). Ponting said he was not aware of anyplayers who had already decided not to take part in the IPL because ofthe Lahore attack.”I’m sure once we get around the guys a bit more today that might evenbe something that comes up in our meeting this morning as well, seewhat the guys are thinking about there,” Ponting said. “[ACA chiefexecutive] Paul Marsh will keep the guys up to date with what’shappening as far as security is concerned in the IPL.”A more pressing concern for Australia is the one-day series they werescheduled to play against Pakistan in the United Arab Emiratesimmediately following the tour of South Africa. Cricket Australia iskeen to goahead with the series, while England has loomed as a possible venue for a Test series between Australia and Pakistan next year.”I’m not against playing in neutral venues,” Ponting said. “We’ve doneit in the past, we played [Tests against Pakistan] in Sri Lanka and Sharjah a few years ago now. There’s every possibility that neutral venues could come up.”The Lahore attack dominated discussions among Australia’s players onTuesday, when they had intended to refocus on the second Testfollowing their 162-run win in Johannesburg. The Australian teamphysio Alex Kountouris, who previously worked with the Sri Lanka side,had been in touch with the Sri Lanka players while the coach TimNielsen had spoken to his fellow South Australian, the umpire SteveDavis, who was travelling in a van behind the team bus when the attacktook place.”From having a good win and having a bit of a celebration and wakingup yesterday morning and seeing what was happening in our game on theother side of the world was very saddening for all of us,” Pontingsaid. “Alex has made contact with them yesterday and I told him lastnight to send a message on behalf of the players to the guys overthere that have been affected by it all.”Obviously what happened was well planned and they were made targets.It was the main discussion point around the whole group yesterday fromthe morning when we woke up until we went to bed last night. That’swhat everyone was talking about, what they were seeing on the newscoverage and what Alex was hearing coming back from their players.”Security has been increased for the South Africa and Australia teamsin the wake of the Lahore attack. The second Test begins at Kingsmeadon Friday.