No home Tests for Pakistan

A year ago,Pakistan captain Younus Khan delivered an impassioned appeal to the cricketing community to resume tours of his troubled country after their team had unexpectedly won the Twenty20 World Cup at Lord8217;s.

Younus is no longer in the team,England now hold the World Cup and Pakistan are still forced to play all their internationals abroad because of the parlous security situation at home. They start the first of a two-test series against Australia at Lord8217;s in London on Tuesday.

Pakistan8217;s current isolation was precipitated by the armed attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in March last year in which militant gunmen killed seven people and injured six team members and a coach.

No country has toured since and the prospects of any immediate resumption of normal relations remain bleak.

The attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team on March 3,2009 was the death knell for cricket in Pakistan,Sajjan Gohel,the international security director of the Asia-Pacific Foundation,a London-based think tank,said in an email.

For the foreseeable future it is impossible to hold major sports events in Pakistan because of the serious and legitimate concerns regarding Pakistan8217;s security infrastructure and the growth of terrorism that continues to proliferate in the major urban cities.

International Cricket Council ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the problem was essentially political.

SECURED FORTRESS?

I can8217;t crystal gaze but things can change overnight,he said by telephone from the world governing body8217;s Dubai headquarters. It8217;s not a cricketing issue. There8217;s very little we can do.

Wisden cricket almanac editor Scyld Berry suggested in his opening notes in the annual publication this year that a secure fortress containing a cricket stadium might be a solution.

In a telephone interview,Berry said the stadium could be placed on the outskirts of a Pakistan city.

Teams could just fly straight in,play and get out again. That might be a particularly claustrophobic week but it8217;s a lot better than nothing,he said. You could stage one test match and three one-dayers or a handful of Twenty20s.

Former ICC president Ehsan Mani,a Pakistani now based in England,said a better option could be to base overseas teams in Dubai and fly them into Pakistan for matches.

That might be a more viable solution than a fortress. No player is going to like being locked up,they are not gladiators who are being thrown to the lions when the games are on,he said by telephone.

They want to go there,they want to enjoy the social life,they want to enjoy the country.

Mani added the problem was exacerbated by what he said was the Pakistan Cricket Board8217;s PCB failure to submit a report on the Lahore shootings to the ICC.

There was clearly a lapse of security for the Sri Lankan team and the fact that that report has not come out yet creates a big credibility gap,he said.

One has got to be realistic about these things. One has to reassure the world about the security measures in Pakistan. That can8217;t happen overnight,it might take a year or 18 months from the time they start working on it.

BUTT REJECTS ALLEGATIONS

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said Mani8217;s claim that no security report had been sent to the ICC was absolutely incorrect.

We have resolved that. Everything has been sorted out and there is no problem on that account at all,he said by telephone.

However,Lorgat confirmed that no report on the shooting had yet been forwarded to the ICC.

We asked the PCB to send the security report into the Lahore incident,he said. We have asked them and we haven8217;t received it.

Lorgat said the ICC would concentrate on the Pakistan issue following next year8217;s 50 overs World Cup which will be staged in India,Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

We must play cricket back in Pakistan,they are passionate about cricket,they have enormous talent,he said.

Butt said he was optimistic about current negotiations involving the PCB and political authorities.

In a year,or 18 months,we think something will come about,he said. I am hopeful,very hopeful. I think very soon we will hear good news.

Gohel remains a pessimist.

You could have a cricket pitch with a fortress surrounding it,and even place it on top of a hill,but if those that are providing the security are in collusion with the radicals and extremists then it does not really matter,he said.

There are major terrorist attacks taking place every week in Pakistan especially in the urban heartland of Punjab. Cultural centres like Lahore are becoming centre points for attack. Therefore the environment is not even conducive to having a sports event.

Gohel said more than 90 people had been killed in an attack on a local volleyball match on Jan. 1 this year in the Lakki Marwat district of the North West Frontier Province.

This was only a local volleyball game and yet it was targeted. A high profile game of cricket with teams from England or Australia would be even more of a target,he said.

Security fears isolate Pakistan national team

Pakistan will stage all their international cricket fixtures abroad in the immediate future because of security concerns at home. They will not host any of the 2011 50 overs World Cup games scheduled for the Indian sub-continent.

Following is a timeline of key incidents relating to the situation.

May 8,2002 8211; A car bomb explodes in Karachi near the hotel where the New Zealand cricket team are staying killing 13 people,including 11 French navy experts. New Zealand call off the tour within hours of the attack.

March 11,2008 8211; Australia postpone a tour to Pakistan hours after 15 people are killed by bombs.

Aug. 24,2008 8211; The Champions Trophy in Pakistan is postponed for 13 months after five of the eight nations due to take part confirm they will not send a team because of security fears. The 50 overs event,second in importance only to the World Cup,is subsequently moved to South Africa.

Nov. 26,2008 8211; India freeze all cricket ties with Pakistan after an assault in Mumbai by Pakistan-based militant kills about 170 people.

March 3,2009 8211; Gunmen attack a bus carrying Sri Lanka8217;s cricket team outside a Lahore stadium in Pakistan,killing seven people,including six policemen and a driver. Six of the team and a British coach are wounded.

April 28,2009 8212; The ICC board decides to shift 2011 World Cup matches out of Pakistan after security concerns following the Lahore attack.

June 21,2009 8211; Pakistan celebrate victory in the Twenty20 World Cup final over Sri Lanka at Lord8217;s in London,their first major trophy since Imran Khan8217;s side won the 1992 50 overs World Cup.

April 15,2010 8211; International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat says India will have to fulfil their obligation to play a bilateral series against Pakistan before the ICC8217;s future tours programme ends in 2012. Pakistan were to host India early in 2009 but the series was cancelled.