The International Cricket Council (ICC) said that they placed all participating Champions Trophy teams on “lockdown” following the London attacks on Saturday night.
The South African cricket team are in London for the tournament, and in fact played their first match on Saturday in the UK capital.
AB de Villiers’ Proteas beat Sri Lanka by 96 runs at The Oval ground in south London, which is about a 16-minute tube ride to London Bridge, where three men began their attack in which seven people died and 48 were injured.
British police eventually shot and killed the attackers in nearby Borough Market.
Proteas team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee told Independent Media from London on Sunday: “We’re monitoring the situation and awaiting ICC feedback.”
The ICC said in a statement on Sunday that the security situation was “very much front and centre of our preparations”, especially after the recent attack at a music concert in Manchester, where 22 people were killed.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by what has happened in London overnight. The ICC and ECB continue to place safety and security at the ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Women’s World Cup this summer as the highest priority,” the statement read.
“Following last night’s incident, all team hotels went into lockdown and teams, match officials and staff were all quickly accounted for. The enhanced security around venues implemented following the Manchester attack remains in place – this includes significantly enhanced police and security presence for today’s match (India against Pakistan in Birmingham).
“We operate on advice from our Tournament Security Directorate – in conjunction with the ECB and relevant police and security authorities – to ensure that we can deliver a safe and secure event.”
Proteas team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee. Photo: Aubrey Kgakatsi, BackpagePix
The Proteas will be moving on to Birmingham next, where they will take on Pakistan at Edgbaston on Wednesday (2.30pm SA time start).
Ahead of South Africa’s first international of their UK tour against England in Leeds, team manager Moosajee stated that the team were “uneasy” following the Manchester attack.
“As you can understand we have some genuine concerns, the players are uneasy... there was a lot of chatter at the breakfast table,” Moosajee was quoted as saying by AFP on May 23.
“I am happy to say we’ve had constant communications from the ECB and their security manager. There have been guarantees put in place that security arrangements will be supplemented, starting today. We’re told there will be more visible police at the stadium, at practice sessions, as well as the hotels we will reside at.
“As things stand, there’s no mention of us even thinking of abandoning the tour. If the intelligence information tells us something else, we would obviously have to reconsider.”
The ICC added: “We will continue to work with authorities over the coming hours and days and review our security in line with the threat levels.
“The security situation has been very much front and centre of our preparations, and we constantly review our procedures to guarantee they are as effective as possible to keep everyone safe. We do not disclose our security details as a matter of policy.”