Durban/Colombo: The South Africans were almost ready to return home immediately without waiting for a decision to be made on Tuesday at a meeting with Sri Lanka Cricket authorities and Indian team management, following the bomb blasts which killed seven persons.

The squad was only awaiting a green-signal from the International Cricket Council to quit the Unitech Cup tri-series.

The South African team management has expressed serious concerns about the security of its players after witnessing the second bomb explosion in the last seven/eight days.

It was also learnt that the players were not very keen on playing here after the security delegation, accompanying the side and sent by Cricket South Africa (CSA), recommended them to go home following the explosions.

Counting all these factors along with the fact that CSA chief executive Gerald Majola was also supporting the players, ICC may also agree to let them go home without imposing any penalty.

“I would like to have guarantees that our players will be safe, and if I don’t get those guarantees I will have no hesitation in withdrawing the squad from Sri Lanka,” CSA official Brian Basson said from Johannesburg.

Basson said team security had been increased.

What South Africa seemed to be worried about was that the explosion took place near the shopping mall where their players had been frequentling during their stay in Colombo.

“If we hadn’t been scheduled to play today, the players might have been there,” South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said.