England v Holland called off after London riots

England's friendly against the Netherlands at Wembley on Wednesday has been called off in the aftermath of a third night of rioting and looting across the capital last night, which also caused a wave of Carling Cup matches planned for this evening to be abandoned.

London ties between West Ham and Aldershot Town, Charlton and Reading as well as Crystal Palace and Crawley Town have already been postponed, with more matches expected to follow. West Ham's statement, released on their website, said the club had been "asked by the police" to postpone the tie "because of the need to focus police resources elsewhere". Elsewhere in the country the tie between Swindon and Bristol City was also postponed.

The FA is met this morning to discuss whether tomorrow's international friendly should go ahead. Adrian Bevington, managing director of Club England, tweeted before the summit: "Deplorable scenes of disorder once more - heading into Wembley now for meetings."

After the decision was made he commented: "Disappointing for game to be called off, but very good communication with Met, Brent [council] and govt today - sensible decision."

A spokesman from the Metropolitan Police said: "Every football match in London is subject to assessment around police resources." And in the end it was decided that the police had enough on their plates without the added pressure of 80,000 football fans descending on Wembley.

Elsewhere, as the violence spread beyond London to other city centres, England's third Test against India at Edgbaston has been thrown into doubt after rioting in Birmingham. With both teams staying in central Birmingham hotels, Indian and England players were ordered to remain inside their accommodation as riots flared up in the city.

Indian team manager Anirudh Choudhry explained that the side was "told by the Board to remain where we were last night with instructions to restrict our movement." Meanwhile, England players gave an insight into events via Twitter. "They have just locked our hotel in Birmingham mate... Riots just started here.. Insane!!" tweeted Kevin Pietersen, while Stuart Broad wrote "police vans all around Birmingham where we are right now".

The press in India are also casting serious doubt over whether the match will go ahead. "Team India worried over Birmingham riots," a headline in the Times of India read, adding that the riots are "raising massive security concerns". The Hindustan Times declared that that "Edgbaston Test doubtful as violence in London spreads". ·