England on Thursday abandoned their one-day series in India following the deadly attacks in Mumbai, even as talks began aimed at salvaging the subsequent Test matches.

"I can confirm the last two one-dayers will not take place," Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) spokesman Devendra Prabhudesai told AFP.

The games in Guwahati on Saturday and New Delhi on December 2 held only academic interest with India having already taken a 5-0 lead in the seven-match series.

The tourists will remain in the eastern city of Bhubaneswar for the next 24 hours as England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) officials hold talks with BCCI chiefs on the fate of the two-Test series starting in Ahmedabad on December 11.

The second Test was due to be played from December 19 in Mumbai, where at least 100 people were killed overnight in coordinated militant attacks.

Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa state, adjoins Cuttack where India and England played the fifth one-day international on Wednesday night.

Hugh Morris, the ECB's managing director of England cricket, said in a statement that discussions were being held to see if the rest of the tour could take place.

"The safety and security of the England team is of the utmost importance to ECB," he said after expressing his and the team's sympathies with the victims of the attacks and their families.

"We have reviewed all our security arrangements in the light of these attacks and will be taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the team.

"We are urgently seeking information from expert sources regarding last night's attacks and will continue to hold further discussions with our colleagues from the BCCI over the next 24 hours," he said.

England's High Performance squad, which is currently training in Bangalore, was awaiting guidance from the British government on the future of its own tour.

The squad, which includes former captain Michael Vaughan and current Test stars Monty Panesar and Andrew Strauss, was scheduled to reach Mumbai on December 3 to play a practice game.

The attacks also cast a shadow over the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament which was due to begin on December 3, with Mumbai hosting three of the 15 matches.

English county Middlesex, one of the eight participating teams, delayed their departure for Mumbai, while Cricket Australia stopped Victoria and Western Australia from travelling to India.

Media reports said tournament organisers were planning to shift the three Champions League games in Mumbai to either Chennai or Bangalore, the other venues for the six-million-dollar event.

The other teams in the competition are two domestic teams each from India and South Africa and one from Pakistan.

The cancellation of England's tour comes as the Indian government is debating whether to send a cricket team to strife-torn Pakistan in January for a Test series.

AFP

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