Australia's tour to Pakistan unlikely

[Fusion]

Australia unlikely to tour Pakistan.


I'm surprised there hasn't been much discussion on this topic. I personally believe that Australia would be safe to tour Pakistan. No cricketing (or any other sporting team) has ever been a target of terrorists in Pakistan. And of course South Africa and Zimbabwe just toured without a hitch. Having said all that though, I couldn't fault CA for being nervous. They're not from Pakistan so don't know true ground realities there. They see violence and bombings in the news and perceive a threat to their player's safety. I would be very sad if they didn't tour, but I would have to accept their reasoning.

 

[Jono]

This frickin' sucks.

Seriously, even as an Indian fan I was looking forward to this more than Aus in Ind (providing Asif, Gul and Shoaib were fit).

What's the money that this tour will be cancelled, yet all bowlers will be fit? Or if by some miracle the tour goes ahead, two of the three are injured? Both very likely IMO.

 

[western_warrior]

if i was an Australian cricketer i wouldnt be going to Pakistan. with the elections on the near horizon the stability of the nation will only become more dire IMO. and a game of cricket is not worth riskig your life over. there is a real threat in the region, not just from political unrest but from extremeists who would love the oportunity to make a brash statment about australian troops being in afghanistan, by attacking our cricketers. it seems sad but unless a nutral location can be met i dont see australia traveling to pakistan this year. expecially now the ICL is taking place at the same time, i feel the aussie players will be trying to convince CA to prospone or even cancel the tour, for a few extra dollars.$$$$

 

[nightprowler10]

I think the CA need to wake up and realize that Aussies couldn't be safer in Pakistan, the terrorists love cricket!!

 

[aussie]

I think the CA need to wake up and realize that Aussies couldn't be safer in Pakistan, the terrorists love cricket!!

Ha, funny that. No expert in politics but i think the reason the countries like England & Australia have expressed fears of touring Pakistan since 9/11 is because they feel the cricketers could be targets. But i think the PCB officials could be correct though since when England were in PAK in 2005 the only real alarm or should i say was false alarm was a overheated gas tank that exploded on the boundary edge in the 2nd test in faisalabad. Everything else went very smoothly.

 

[Burgey]

This frickin' sucks.

Seriously, even as an Indian fan I was looking forward to this more than Aus in Ind (providing Asif, Gul and Shoaib were fit).

What's the money that this tour will be cancelled, yet all bowlers will be fit? Or if by some miracle the tour goes ahead, two of the three are injured? Both very likely IMO.

If they don't go, imo they shouldn't be allowed to play IPL.

I heard a dude on the radio, some academic expert on terrorism - he was saying that there had been (and I dunno if this is right) 50 suicide bombings in Pakistan in a year or so. He mentioned the concern that, with Australia's involvement in Afghanistan, the players may be targetted given there are apparently some pro-Taliban elements in Pakistan.
Can't blame the players as individuals, but it would be sad imo if the tour didn't go ahead, yet the players will then go off and make their squillions with IPL.

 

[Smudge]

I think the CA need to wake up and realize that Aussies couldn't be safer in Pakistan, the terrorists love cricket!!

They obviously don't like crap cricketers, which is why the bombs always go off around the NZ team ...

 

[brockley]

"Australia unlikely to tour pakistan"
Der Fred

 

[howardj]

Their heart has never been in this tour.

Moreover, their heart has never been in touring this country - I find it quite pathetic that they've not toured Pakistan since 1998.

 

[haroon510]

i don't usually agree with mr. Kamran Abbasi..but it is well said in this article

http://blogs.cricinfo.com/pakspin/archives/2008/02/a_letter_to_australians.php#more

I see cricket as the only way to build a bridge between extrem religious muslims of pakistan and people of west..
i remember afew of my friends in pakistan who were very extrem muslims.. the only fun for them other than praying was playing cricket and watching cricket.. they were all big fans of Lara, Sachin and warne and even i remmeber one of them bowling like warne and considering warne as his hero..

What Aus cricket board and Aus players are doing is trying to break this bridge which leads to nothing but more hatrate among people of both east and west..

 

[silentstriker]

If they don't go, imo they shouldn't be allowed to play IPL.

I heard a dude on the radio, some academic expert on terrorism - he was saying that there had been (and I dunno if this is right) 50 suicide bombings in Pakistan in a year or so. He mentioned the concern that, with Australia's involvement in Afghanistan, the players may be targetted given there are apparently some pro-Taliban elements in Pakistan.
Can't blame the players as individuals, but it would be sad imo if the tour didn't go ahead, yet the players will then go off and make their squillions with IPL.

You know they are different countries though .

 

[silentstriker]

Its up to the countries, but it doesn't smell right. How many sports teams have been targetted in Pakistan? Australia didn't leave England after the London bombings. I hated the fact that SA ran out of SL even though no touring team was ever hurt, and in fact even the Tamils have a big hero playing for the country.

 

[social]

IPL vs tour of Pakistan argument is ridiculous

CA earns no money from IPL and wont suffer penalty from withdrawal of tour.

Players get paid a retainer from IPL (whether they play or not).

Therefore, participation in tour is irrelevant to either party on this side

Unfortunately, politics (both Pakistani and player) mean CA wont sanction tour

For mine, it falls into the zero care factor basket

 

[Fusion]

For mine, it falls into the zero care factor basket

I would hope that you are in the minority then. It would be an interesting contest, and I would presume that a cricket fan of either country would look forward to playing the other team. I could be wrong, but that's the sense I get from the majority of posters on CW at least.

 

[Fusion]

You know they are different countries though .

I think he means the implication of Australian players refusing to tour Pakistan just so they can earn more money playing in the IPL should be avoided. I don't think that's really the reason behind the uncertainty myself though. It has to do with the perceived threat. One that is unfounded IMO, but it's hard to convince the Australians of that.

 

[subshakerz]

I find it hard for Australia is argue it's not safe to tour when two teams have just toured there in the past few months without a hitch.

 

[Burgey]

You know they are different countries though .

Thanks scoop

I would fully understand though the anger of Pakistani fans and officials if the players didn't tour, then went and played for big bucks when they should have been touring. Not that it's the reason they aren't touring, it just wouldn't be a good look.

Then again, I can also understand the players having real concerns about going there. I really think it's a pretty tough one.

 

[Fusion]

Senior players privately threaten to pull out if tour goes ahead.

It's all but over now.

 

[TT Boy]

Its up to the countries, but it doesn't smell right. How many sports teams have been targetted in Pakistan? Australia didn't leave England after the London bombings. I hated the fact that SA ran out of SL even though no touring team was ever hurt, and in fact even the Tamils have a big hero playing for the country.

How did South Africa exactly ’ran out’. A bomb went off less than 600 meters away from their hotel, killed a bunch of people near a shopping mall frequented by tourists and then the people looking after them and the Sri Lanka government announced that they could no longer guarantee any of their safety. A clear rationale for anyone to get the **** out.

 

[Xuhaib]

It s was inevitable.

The lure of the $$$ from IPL is the main reason i feel. It is quite a known fact that Western teams find touring Pakistan extreamly boring and many players get homesick during the course. What I dont understand Aus allowed their U-19 and A team to tour Pakistan in similar political circumstances but they are not willing to let the senior team come to these shores.