Andy Murray will not make his views on Scottish independence known because he does not want a repeat of the furore that followed his comments about the England football team.

Murray joked in an interview ahead of the 2006 World Cup that he would be supporting anyone but England and the remark has dogged him ever since.

It is still cited by some English people as a reason not to support him, even though Murray has explained many times that it was not a serious comment.

As one of Scotland's highest-profile celebrities, were Murray to express his opinion ahead of the independence referendum, it would be a big story, even though as a resident of England he cannot vote.

Murray said: "I will take a position. My thoughts on it aren't that relevant, because I can't vote myself.

"I wouldn't personally choose to make my feelings on something like that public either because not a whole lot of good comes from it.

"I don't know a whole lot about politics, and I have made that mistake in the past and it's caused me a headache for seven or eight years of my life and a lot of abuse.

"So I wouldn't consider getting involved in something like that ever again."

Murray was speaking after beating Lukas Rosol 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.

His comments are a reversal of what he said following his Wimbledon triumph last summer, when he stated he would say what side he was on once he had made up his mind.

Murray spends a lot more time in America these days than in Scotland, with Miami his base for pre-season training and other blocks during the year.

He said: "I love the States. I have loved it since the first time I came for the Orange Bowl when I was 11 years old.

"I just enjoy the positivity of the people here. You wake up at 6am and go to Starbucks and the person that's serving you just genuinely seems happy to see you. They are awake and just have a positive outlook on life.

"It's not the case everywhere. That's why I always enjoy coming here and why I spend my off-seasons training here and why I have made Miami my second home."

Murray will head to Miami at the end of this tournament for the Masters series event there later this month.

While that has been one of his most successful tournaments - Murray has won the title twice and reached another final - he has found life more difficult at Indian Wells.

He did reach the final in 2009 but since then he has made two quarter-finals and lost his first match twice, against Donald Young and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

He looked in serious danger of making another early exit when he trailed Rosol, who famously upset Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2012, by a set and a break.

But Murray gradually got a hold on the barrage of winners coming from the other end and turned things around to set up a third-round meeting with another Czech, 20-year-old Jiri Vesely.

Murray said of his struggles here: "I think it's important sometimes to think about it because when you're not expecting it to happen and then it does, obviously it can take you by surprise and you might panic a little bit or worry.

"I was a set and a break down. I got broken three times in a row at the end of the first set and beginning of the second. I just kept going and found a way to win, which is always the most important thing.

"Sometimes I have taken quite long breaks after the Australian Open and trained and maybe come in with not enough matches.

"Often I play well in Miami just after so maybe this year will be different. I've played a few more matches to get ready here, and hopefully that will help me."

Meanwhile, Queen's Club will stage a second Rally Against Cancer this summer, and Murray hopes Elena Baltacha will get involved.

The charity fund-raiser that followed the 2013 AEGON Championships final was the brainchild of Ross Hutchins, who underwent six months of chemotherapy last year after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Hutchins' great friend Murray played in a doubles match with Tim Henman against coach Ivan Lendl and Tomas Berdych before various celebrities took to the court.

The event raised more than £275,000 for the Royal Marsden Hospital, where Hutchins received treatment.

The 29-year-old British Davis Cup player was told he was in remission in July and returned to action at the start of this season.

But on Friday, Baltacha, a long-time British number one who retired in November, announced she, too, is battling the disease after being diagnosed with liver cancer.

Murray has known Baltacha since they were young children in Scotland, and she remains very close to his mother Judy.

There had been no indication Rally Against Cancer was anything but a one-off, but Murray revealed another edition is already being planned, and he hopes it can help Baltacha in the same way it did Hutchins.

He said: "If there's anything I could do - I'm sure any of the guys on the tour and the girls, if there's anything we could do that could help, we would.

"I'm sure this year when we do the Rally Against Cancer at Queen's, that's something that would definitely be great to get Elena involved in at an early stage.

"I believe that helped Ross a little bit as well so maybe that would be a nice thing to do."

Hutchins threw himself into organising the event and said on Friday how much having goals had helped him deal with what he was going through.

It also involved him in the running of the tournament, and earlier this week Hutchins was named as the new tournament director, a very unusual role for a current player.

Having been a key source of support for Hutchins, Murray was stunned to discover another of his peers is fighting cancer.

He said: "I heard about it from my mum a couple of weeks ago, she'd gone in to see her in the hospital. You're obviously shocked to hear that.

"I've known Bally for a long time. I don't know her as well as I know Ross, but it's still shocking. She's so young, she's just retired, you're expecting her to enjoy just a nice happy life. She's just got married as well so you feel bad. Life is very, very unfair.

"I think she has the right attitude. My mum told me that she was unbelievably positive very soon after finding out."