Sri Lanka senior players want better security

March 15, 2009 (AFP) - Sri Lanka's new cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara and star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan say they want security guarantees on future tours after their team survived an attack in Pakistan.



The Sri Lankan team bus was ambushed by armed militants in Lahore on March 3 as it drove towards the Gaddafi stadium during the second Test, killing eight people and leaving seven players and the British assistant coach injured.

Sangakkara, 31, was one of those injured, and doctors in Colombo had to remove shards of metal and shrapnel from his arm after the team flew home last week.

"Players are concerned about their safety now, perhaps more than earlier," the left-hand batsman and wicketkeeper told AFP.

"But I don't think there is a reluctance to play the game anywhere.

That's our living, we enjoy doing it.

"

Muralitharan, the world's leading Test and one-day wicket-taker, who escaped unhurt from the attack, said he would want more assurances on safety from the host cricket board.

"I think every cricket playing country will have to take security much more seriously than before," the off-spinner told AFP.

Muralitharan, 36, said the security provided to the Sri Lank