England opt to return home after Mumbai attacks

By John Mehaffey

LONDON (Reuters) - England opted on Thursday to return home from India after militant attacks in Mumbai killed at least 119 people but promised to return for two cricket tests next month.

The decision followed an announcement that the two remaining one-day internationals in a seven-match series would be cancelled. Officials said later the games could be rescheduled.

Tests are scheduled for Ahmedabad from Dec. 11-15 and Mumbai from Dec. 19-23.

England held meetings at the team hotel in Bhubaneswar after losing their fifth one-day match in succession to India on Wednesday.

England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Hugh Morris said the team would be guided by security advice.

However, any decision appeared to be pre-empted when Board of Control for Cricket in India vice-president Lalit Modi said the test series would go ahead with the Mumbai match shifted to a venue in southern India.

Morris then told reporters the team management had decided to go home but would come back for the test series.

"We feel that, even if it were for a few days, the home environment is the place where the players should be," Morris told Sky Sports News.