Date-stamped : 12 Mar97 - 10:21 12 March 1997 Police escort for Indians By GARTH WATTLEY GOING to the Queen`s Park Oval will be a different experience this year for India and West Indies cricket teams and local fans. In what has been described as merely a safety measure, the teams of Courtney Walsh and Sachin Tendulkar will be given police escorts during their stay here. The move is one of several security changes that have been made for the Second Cable and Wireless Test match which starts at the Oval on Friday. In preparation for the game, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control and the Oval authorities have left nothing to chance. At a news conference to announce the changes yesterday, TTCBC president Alloy Lequay said the new arrangements have been prompted by recent incidents, unrelated to cricket. The TTCBC president cited the recent crowd trouble in football, namely the Guatemala World Cup tragedy as a case in point. Lequay said the West Indies board had taken note of this and as a result, decided to upgrade security measures at its international venues. Lequay admitted that the culture of cricket crowds was different. But he said nevertheless, new measures have been put in place, "so we could respond quickly if there is an emergency." These measures will come under the Emergency Preparedness Plan. Among the innovations contained in this plan is the establishment of a command post to be located in the south-eastern section of the Jeffrey Stollmeyer Stand which will comprise Cricket Board officials, members of the Police Service, Defence Force, the Fire Services and the Red Cross. These groups will be in place to deal with any untoward situations, Lequay explained. Security will also be beefed up on the ground itself, with a larger complement of police officers being deployed. Bruce Aanensen who will head the command post, said the authori- ties did not anticipate trouble. But he cited the infamous Char- ran Singh riot during the 1958-59 series against India as an ex- ample of what can and has happened. He also outlined measures that will affect the spectators direct- ly. For one thing, the public will be asked not to bring bottles to the ground. Bottled drinks will also not be sold at the venue. Aanensen also said parking in the vicinity of the Oval will be restricted. Five ambulances will be in constant attendance on the ground. The units will be there to minister to the needs of crowds which Le- quay said are not expected to be as large as they will be for the two One-day internationals to be played here next month. Concerning tickets, Lequay said a maximum of 20,000 will be printed for the match. And he added that a larger amount of Pub- lic Liability Insurance has been taken out for the up-coming game to cover personal injury. Despite the range and nature of the security improvements howev- er, both Lequay and Aanensen stressed that the changes were just precautionary. "We are not being alarmists but we want to be able to react quickly (should any situation arise)." Source :: Trinidad Express (http://www.trinidad.net/express) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)