Bill Bridge: Indian security operation a foretaste of things to come at London 2012

Judging from the many reports coming from India, where the next renewal of the Games is due to take place in October, things are not as anyone, not least the organisers themselves, would have them.

Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, no less, will put his personal oar into the muddied waters of New Delhi and try to bring some order to a project which is threatening to bring his country to ridicule, with facilities not yet complete and accusations of corruption rife.

Even worse, the security situation threatens to erode the traditional ethos of the friendly games. Ever since the Mumbai atrocities two years ago, Commonwealth Games England, the body responsible for our representatives at the supposed festival of goodwill, have been trying to put the terrorism threat in perspective.

Now they have accepted that the threat is real and only a few weeks away. Athletes from these shores have been advised that in their relaxation periods they should only visit sites officially designated as safe; that they should expect "incidents" in parts of India not under the state of siege which will envelop New Delhi for the duration; and that they should not wear team kit – tracksuit, trainers and baseball cap – as they stroll the streets.

Quite how that ruse will convince would-be assassins or kidnappers that the white-skinned, blond-haired Blackberry-wielding boy or girl in pristine tee-shirt and designer jeans is not a local has yet to be made clear.

Several athletes have already withdrawn from the trip to India, citing injury, tiredness and the need to prepare properly for London 2012 among the excuses; we should not blame them.

Such is the concern as the Games draw near, Commonwealth Games England has been involved in high-level talks with the Metropolitan Police, who, in turn, have been in close contact with their counterparts in New Delhi while the British High Commission in India has been monitoring the situation.

India has made a massive commitment to the safety of all the athletes, officials and spectators who will be travelling to their country.

The security forces will be enormous: 80,000 police officers, 17,500 paramilitaries including snipers and bomb disposal units, 3,000 SAS-type troops and 100 anti-sabotage teams.

The operation will perhaps give us a foretaste of what to expect in London two years hence.

WITH the possible exception of a few of the wilder elements who attach themselves to Cardiff City, the rebirth of Craig Bellamy following his hasty departure from Manchester City will not have struck many sympathetic chords in the footballing game.

Neither will the arrival of Mario Balotelli to fill Bellamy's graceless boots at Eastlands. The Italian made an impact on his debut, not just by scoring a goal but also by being booked and gloating in his soiled reputation.

He seems determined to prove that Jose Mourinho was right to describe him as "unmanageable" and provide further evidence that no matter how badly a player behaves, how much he demands in wages, he will still be welcome in the Premier League if he "does the business".

A useful insight into the workings of Manchester City came from Stephen Ireland when he moved to Aston Villa as part of the James Milner deal.

Ireland alleged there was a major problem with the attitude of manager Roberto Mancini at City and that the club was over-run by disrespectful teenagers who strutted round in 10,000 watches when they had barely earned a place in the team. It sounds the ideal environment for Balotelli.

MUCH was made during the last round of the PGA Championship of the blunder made by Dustin Johnson when he grounded his club in a bunker and was rightly penalised two strokes, missing out on a play-off as a result.

Many – including the player's coach Claude "Butch" Harmon – claimed the young man had been harshly treated, an argument which was swiftly ended by Johnson when he admitted he had not read the local rules.

In the furore no-one seemed to notice a much more worrying incident. Martin Kaymer was faced with a six-iron to the green at the last hole of the play-off and knew that if he hit the ball well he would almost certainly win. As he reached the top of his backswing a camera clicked but, with remarkable self-control, Kaymer was able to stop himself before making contact with the ball.

The public were not allowed to take cameras into Whistling Straits so the perpetrator must have been a professional. That being so, he or she would have known that cameras are not to be used until a player has completed his shot.

Why would anyone risk distracting a player as he made the most important swing of his career? Could it have been because he or she – presumably American – did not want a European to take a major title in the States?

The US PGA have been strangely quiet on the issue. Does that mean they condone such behaviour?

and another thing...

THE plight of Barkisland CC – who face eviction from their lovely ground if they cannot find 57,000 in back rent – brought to mind a time when the game was far removed from what we and the players must tolerate today.

Those were the days when Test cricket really was the pinnacle of the game but was played at such a tempo that the players actually had a rest day in each match; Sunday was their day off.

So it was that in 1975 a keen supporter of Barkisland decided to invest in a little star quality for the Sunday afternoon bun-fest to mark the opening of a new pavilion.

A few phone calls and a favour or two later Australia's prime fast bowler Dennis Lillee and wicket-keeper Rodney Marsh were coming to Yorkshire.

The car was despatched to London and picked up the Aussies at the end of Saturday's play in the Test, conveyed them to Halifax and the following day we saw Lillee purring in at half-speed and Marsh lashing a few boundaries before being driven back for the resumption of hostilities on Monday. Marvellous.