Media rage at Indian board

London - The Associated Press may be forced to suspend text and photo coverage of England's cricket tour of India because of new restrictions introduced by the Board of Control For Cricket In India, the sport's governing body in India.

The BCCI said it would bar photo-only agencies from covering games and make a small number of its own photographs available to media. International and some Indian photo-only agencies have already been refused accreditation for the England tour.

Other international news organisations are considering suspending coverage.

The first of four Test matches is due to start in Ahmedabad on Thursday, when the new BCCI conditions are being introduced.

England arrived in India earlier this month and has already played warm-up matches.

"We are surprised at these terms for photo agencies and remain hopeful that they will be lifted," said Lou Ferrara, AP's managing editor for Sports. "AP wants to provide cricket coverage to the world and it is only in the best interest of the organisers to allow that to happen for all news outlets, especially in this rapidly changing media landscape."

AP is working with the News Media Coalition, a consortium of international media, to try to resolve the issue.