Our players ready to go for IPL: ACA

Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi has ridiculed the safety concerns raised by it but the Australian Cricketers Association claims to have made "some positive progress" in getting its players' security demands met by the IPL organisers.

"Our security adviser Reg Dickason has been working with the IPL's security adviser, Nicholls-Steyn. They've been working for a few days now on what we've identified as the issues that have come out of various player meetings," Marsh told Cricinfo.

"Nicholls-Steyn is aware of those and they are working through the issues and we're making some positive progress. It's probably looked more positive over the last few days than what it has (before). There's still 15 days to go before the event starts and things can happen very quickly in India, we've seen that over the years," he added.

Modi had earlier dismissed the ACA's concerns in his Twitter feeds, saying the IPL would not "be dictated by players associations on where to play".

Meanwhile, Marsh played down reports of a bust-up between current and former Australian cricketers with regards to IPL participation.

"Like just about every meeting, when you're dealing with a difficult issue, there are different points of view and there were definitely different points of view in this particular meeting. The players were completely unified on the position that they wanted to go," Marsh said.

"However, there was one school thinking they would only go if our security adviser, Reg Dickason who we trust, believes it's safe to go. There was another school that said it's a risk-and-reward type situation, would we go regardless.

We got to a position at the end of it where we all said okay, let's put back to the IPL the things that we need so that all the players can go.

"If we can resolve those issues with them, and that is our hope, then we would expect to get to a point where our security adviser recommends that it's safe for the players to go. If we can't overcome these issues then the opposite is the most likely scenario. This is a decision to be made by each individual player," he added.

Windies' players' body satisfied with security

Players' bodies in Australia and New Zealand might be fretting over security in the Indian Premier League but the one in West Indies is happy with the arrangements and has backed its cricketers' participation in the Twenty20 event.

"Apart from being in contact with a number of key IPL personnel, West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has also sought independent advice from organisations which have conducted similar security tests," WIPA said in a statement.

"WIPA is convinced that the organisers and the government are sparing no effort to ensure that players' welfare and security are not in any way compromised. WIPA will therefore support its players' participation in the IPL tournament," it added.