Australia's tour to Pakistan unlikely

[Jono]

Haha how the hell is it obvious that he doesn't like Australians?

Sometimes Social, really.

 

[Xuhaib]

Obviously mentioning the 37 killed in Pakistan today wouldnt have helped your argument much

Anyway, given that it's obvious that you dont like the Australians, why would you care whether they came or not?

These type of attacks have continued to happen in Pakistan for the last decade or so and no other team apart from Aus have refused to travelled, and I want Aussies to come since I dont want the Pakistani team to miss on good quality cricket I think this tour not going ahead would be a bigger tragedy for Pakistan then suffering a 3-0 drubbing.

 

[jeevan]

You know, how on Earth that never occurred to me before I'll never know.

Lot of money in telling people what they want to hear, not just in this situation. Cushy work if you can find it. If CA doesnt want to go for whatever reason, and there's a $25million worth of penalties at stake - it looks silly for CA to say "we think it is risky", than to say "we comissioned this highly qualified company of experts, they stufdied it deeply and have advised us against it". $50K is small potatoes in this situation.

Matter of fact is that Pakistan is an unfamiliar place for Australians, and there is presently a higher level of violence than say a year ago. So even though the chances of anything happening to them have only increased from 1 in a million to two in a million, still seems worse than that.

 

[jeevan]

Indian Maoists kill 14 in Orissa

Maoist rebels in India have attacked police stations in the eastern state of Orissa, killing 13 officers.
A civilian also died in the attacks in Nayagarh district. The rebels escaped with arms and ammunition.

The attacks, which occurred 90km (56 miles) from the state capital, Bhubaneswar, are seen as a sign the rebels are extending their operations.

Until now, they had confined their operations in Orissa to less developed parts of the state.

Officials said several hundred rebels, including women fighters, were involved.

Reports say between two and four police stations were attacked. One was set on fire.

Gun battles

The head of the state's police, Gopal Chandra Nanda, said a training academy and armoury were also targeted. At least 11 policemen were injured.

There were also reports of gun battles as the security forces tried to repel the attacks.
Hundreds of rebels were reportedly involved in the attacks
Officials are still trying to determine how many weapons were stolen.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary forces are combing the surrounding countryside in search of those involved. There was no word of casualties among the rebels.

The Maoists are active in many states across east and central India. They focus on areas where people are poor but there is great mineral wealth.

The rebels say they represent the rights of landless farmhands and tribal communities. Hundreds of people have died over the past few years in Maoist-related violence.

The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, recently described the rebels as the biggest threat to the country's security and called for a dedicated security force to combat them.

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Going by this the Aussies should refuse to play in IPL aswell due to security concerns but they will not since they are filthy, dirty $$$$ chasing whores.

Think the point about India's been made. No need to post news reports about India in this Australia-Pakistan thread. Quite simply to the Australian players, IPL offers 10X the reward than missing one FTP tour and India offers 10X lower perceived risk at the moment than Pakistan. And a 100X better reward/risk ratio is a no brainer for most folks.

For BCCI , OTOH, to jury rig a filler tour of Pakistan - perceived risks should be lower and the rewards are far higher in terms of goodwill between the countries (given the history of the last 60 years). Rewards/risk profile is very different.

 

[silentstriker]

Anyway, given that it's obvious that you dont like the Australians, why would you care whether they came or not?

Haha, what?

The concern is valid though. The Australian players, obviously so concerned about their personal safety, should decline the advertisement, IPL and touring opportunities in India.

 

[social]

Haha, what?

The concern is valid though. The Australian players, obviously so concerned about their personal safety, should decline the advertisement, IPL and touring opportunities in India.

Why?

You do realise that:

a. Under the IPL contracts they get paid whether they play or not (so if security becomes a concern they pocket the cash and stay home in any event): and

b. Under the best case scenario (Australia tours Pakistan AND WI), the main players are only going to be in India for a few days anyway

Personally, I think it's an absolute no-brainer to sign the IPL contract as the promoters are simply desperate to get the players and seem willing to agree to anything to get them there

As for Pakistan, given the current situation in the country, government recommendations and media reporting, chances are the tour wont happen.

In that case, sell the fixtures to Abu Dhabi (people here make IPL look like paupers) and I'll get to go as will thousands of local subcontinent expats - everyone is a winner

 

[Flem274*]

Haven't really read much on this issue but even if Australia isn't a terget, the team could still get caught up in the middle of somebody elses fight which I imagine would not be a nice thing to happen.

The players should get the choice really, it should be up to each individual to decide if he wants to go.

 

[chaminda_00]

Haven't really read much on this issue but even if Australia isn't a terget, the team could still get caught up in the middle of somebody elses fight which I imagine would not be a nice thing to happen.

The players should get the choice really, it should be up to each individual to decide if he wants to go.

Problem is they should get a more informed and accurate information about the situation then what they are getting. So they can make a better informed decision.

 

[Xuhaib]

February 15, 2008
Should Australia tour Pakistan?

Dileep Premachandran

Barring a spectacular about-turn, Australia will not tour Pakistan next month. Enough noises have already been made to suggest that the security inspection after the elections in Pakistan will be a mere formality, with Cricket Australia bowing to the players' wishes.

Test cricket in Pakistan has been dying for more than a decade now - even matches against India don't get anything like a full house - and this could well prove the final nail in the coffin. And while Cricket Australia can talk about exploring the idea of a neutral venue, there's no conceivable benefit for Pakistan from such a move.

The ground reality is that both England and India (twice) have toured Pakistan since the war on terror began across the border in Afghanistan more than six years ago. And while the law-and-order situation took a turn for the worse after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, there's absolutely no reason to suggest that cricketers would be targetted.

I went across the border with the same trepidation as any other tourist back in 2004. In early 2006, I spent another six weeks in a country that some like to describe as a dangerous basket-case. The three months I've spent there have been among the most memorable of my life, and at no stage did I feel threatened or uneasy. I'd go so far as to say that the hospitality is something that every other cricket-playing country - barring perhaps the islands of the Caribbean - could learn from.

I don't recall any cricket tours of the UK being cancelled, even in an era when IRA bombs nearly wiped out Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet in Brighton. You can't help but think that Pakistan is paying the price for glib stereotypes coined primarily by the international media.

If political assassinations are the yardstick for abandoning cricket tours, then England should have left India within days of arriving in 1984-85, when both Indira Gandhi and the British Commissioner fell prey to extremist bullets. Instead, David Gower's team stayed on and won the series 2-1, their only success in India in the past three decades.

It's only right that players are given the freedom to choose whether or not they'll undertake a tour of this nature, but I'm sure I won't be the only one left with a sour taste in the mouth if the same Australian contingent arrives en masse in India for the Indian Premier League. Perhaps what Pakistan needs is a few fat-cat businessmen and actors waving the dollars about.

 

[Xuhaib]

Its being said these Aussies are more at risk due to presence of their forces in Afghanistan.

Why should Pakistan cricket suffer from this so called "War on Terror", it wasn't Pakistan who forced US to launch a full time assualt against these radical factions with the help of UK and Aus forces who were there just to brown nose their masters.

 

[Richard]

You can't help but think that Pakistan is paying the price for glib stereotypes coined primarily by the international media.

Possibly the only time in my life I've agreed with dear old Dileep.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Was there a specific incident that caused the Australians to pull out last time, or was it just "general unrest"?

 

[Richard]

Pretty sure it was just general unrest. And maybe it's just my lack of knowledge of the true situation(s) in Pakistan shared by so many Australians, but I thought it was generally accepted that there was certain danger in 2002\03.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Stop me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly sure there was a terrorist attack not far from the NZ player's hotel during their Pakistan tour in 2002-03 - incidentally immediately before Australia was due to tour.

 

[Richard]

There was a car-bomb explosion near the New Zealand hotel just before the final scheduled engagement of the 2001\02 tour, and the Kiwis immediately returned home. This was 6 or 7 months before the Australia tour.

I'm pretty sure it was indeed terrorism-related, and certainly people were killed, but something's suggesting to me that they might have found-out it was actually gang-related.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

I'm pretty sure it was indeed terrorism-related, and certainly people were killed, but something's suggesting to me that they might have found-out it was actually gang-related.

Al-Qaeda or Hell's Angels, a bomb still hurts. Perfectly reasonable to pull out for mine.

 

[silentstriker]

So in Australia, the gangs kill no one.




And again, if bombs are the criteria, why didn't they pull out of England?

 

[NUFAN]

So in Australia, the gangs kill no one.




And again, if bombs are the criteria, why didn't they pull out of England?

Because unfortunately Australians find cases different with countries who aren't first world.

There would have to be something close to a war for Australia to not tour England or New Zealand.

I heard in Pakistan there are some areas which are way better in terms of security and current voilence then others.

Surely they could play the Tests there, It's not as if the Pakistan Board are making the teams tour in 3 war-torn cities.

 

[sideshowtim]

I want the tour to go ahead because I know we'll have the kind of security you'd see given to a President, but I can completely understand why Australians would be hesitant to travel to Pakistan and those rubbishing us for not wanting to go and drawing comparisons to England and other regions...well, they're pretty poor.

Look at some of the terrorist attacks that have taken place in Pakistan in the short year already:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_Pakistan#2008

The difference with England was that England hardly had a history of terrorism, nor were there numerous attacks in a short period because of a particular event. I'd hazard a guess that if this tour was further away from the elections we'd get the go ahead for sure. But I think those suggesting that everything in Pakistan is fine and dandy and we're just being swayed by the media and soft need to pull their head in.

 

[silentstriker]

I want the tour to go ahead because I know we'll have the kind of security you'd see given to a President, but I can completely understand why Australians would be hesitant to travel to Pakistan and those rubbishing us for not wanting to go and drawing comparisons to England and other regions...well, they're pretty poor.

Look at some of the terrorist attacks that have taken place in Pakistan in the short year already:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_Pakistan#2008

The difference with England was that England hardly had a history of terrorism, nor were there numerous attacks in a short period because of a particular event. I'd hazard a guess that if this tour was further away from the elections we'd get the go ahead for sure. But I think those suggesting that everything in Pakistan is fine and dandy and we're just being swayed by the media and soft need to pull their head in.

Two things:

1. None of them have threatened or attacked cricketers
2. The chance of you getting killed in a Terrorist attack is much less than getting robbed and randomly killed anywhere in the world.

To me, they deserve to be rubbished, because their reasons are rubbish. If it turns out some terrorist faction targets or threatens cricketers, then the situation would be different.