Calcutta/Melbourne: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday said the two-Test series between India and England should be held as scheduled provided there was enough safety and security for the players and officials. However, simultaneously, a report in Australia has said that the hosting of the 2011 World Cup in the region is under threat.

“If safety and security allow then I would urge the England Test tour of India to go ahead and if it does so then representatives of the ICC will be there to show solidarity with the competing teams,” ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

According to a report, continuous terror attacks in the subcontinent has cast a shadow over the 2011 World Cup to be jointly hosted by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh with the ICC contemplating a stand-by venue for the mega-event.

The ICC is expected to discuss the issue at its executive council meeting in South Africa next week.

The report also stated that if the ICC decides to shift the event, Australia and New Zealand, the co-hosts in 2015, are the prime contenders for staging the tournament.

Cricket Australia has already started endorsing the idea with chief executive James Sutherland saying safety and security issues surrounding the 2011 World Cup were “bound to come up” at the ICC meeting.

“It hasn’t been talked about but that may well have changed out of this Mumbai incident but one would hope the World Cup and other events that are planned for various places in the sub-continent can go ahead as planned,” he said. “But there will be plenty of things that will need to be planned in the fullness of time.”

Sutherland said he did not know if another country had already been put on standby .

An ICC spokesman said the world body is yet to discuss anything. “A decision would have to be made soon... because we need a good run in to get the World Cup ready on time.”