England embarked for India today to resume their abandoned cricket tour. Or rather, they departed for Abu Dhabi with the intention of flying to India sometime over the weekend.
 

They were, in the words of their captain, Kevin Pietersen, “buying some time.”  They will practise in the emirate while awaiting the final reports on safety and security in India.
 

The team to a man appear to have agreed to return to play two Test matches, the first in Chennai beginning next Thursday and the second three days later in Mohali. They left the country in a hurry during the terrorist attacks on Mumbai last week with their final two one-day internationals being cancelled.
 

Since then, between them, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India, have made every effort to ensure the tour resumes. Both Test matches have been moved from their original venues, Ahmedabad and Mumbai, and the highest-level security involving commandos, has been requested and granted.
 

Whether this is how sport is meant to be played is open to conjecture (actually, “no” is the resounding answer) but the determination has been in its way admirable. They want, as Pietersen said, to rub shoulder to shoulder with India in their hour of need.
 

But pragmatism is at work too. The BCCI want the tour to begin again as quickly as possible because they have other cricketing assets to protect.
 

They could probably have done without a Test series against England but had the tour not proceeded it would have had repercussions for the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition which has transformed cricket. There is also the Champions League, a five nation club tournament, which was meant to be played this week but, tellingly, has been postponed until January, to consider.
 

Equally, the ECB while invoking the sentiment that they are keen for the games to go on to show that society will not wilt in the face of terrorism, will have recognised the opportunity to improve their sour relations with the BCCI. The upshot has been a dash to get the tour back on as though normal life is being resumed when, of course, these matches will be played in an atmosphere far removed from normality.
 

The security alerts at several Indian airports today, including Chennai, may yet change ideas again. But Pietersen said players had become much more open-minded after initial reports by the team’s security adviser.
 

It is not at all certain that the Tests will attract huge crowds and quite the reverse is possible. Empty grounds may make this desperation to play the matches now look silly.
 

Nobody could deny that it is crucial for cricket to be played between India and England again and soon. But a period for reflection might have been wiser. The Tests could have been properly planned, the casualties of Mumbai properly mourned sometime early next year. What is happening is the result of expediency not virtue.