Pakistan has been devoid of international cricket on home soil since 2009, when the Sri Lankan team was struck in an armed attack. PHOTO: EXPRESS
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) efforts to revive international cricket in Pakistan received a major blow as a prospective series with Ireland to be held in September has been cancelled after the attack on Karachi’s international airport.
“We were about to sign an agreement with Ireland to host three ODIs to be played in Lahore in September, but after the Karachi attack, the project has been abandoned,” a senior PCB official told The Express Tribune.
“English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Chairman Giles Clarke was helping out the PCB top brass in developing the project together. The board had convinced Ireland to tour here, but all the good work has gone down the drain.”
Pakistan has been devoid of international cricket on home soil since 2009, when the Sri Lankan team was struck in an armed attack. In recent days, PCB Chairman Najam Sethi made efforts to contact different cricket boards and planned to host at least one international team in the latter half of the year.
After the encouraging words of Sri Lanka President Mahina Rajapaksa, who said that Sri Lanka must play a series with Pakistan in order to revive cricket here, Sethi sent an official invitation to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to hold a series after the ODI World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Within two days, PCB received acknowledgement from SLC about the invitation and the series was set to materialise before the airport attack jeopardised the efforts.
Furthermore, the PCB is already expected to sign six series with India over eight years once the Future Tours Programme is finalised by September. Hosting Ireland would have sent a message that the country is safe enough to host international cricket once again.
“If Ireland had come and played in Pakistan, it would have subsequently helped to make the home tour of Sri Lanka happen in 2015, but all the plans have been derailed and the PCB’s top hierarchy is gutted over the outcome,” explained the official.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2014.
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All the terrorists group have put ISLAM at the end of their group to make it look like they r doing it for Muslims. But the irony is that all these groups are in 2nd generation Muslim countries and they achieve JIHAD by killing fellow Muslim countrymen and women.
I do not know what our government is waiting for to crush the TTP. A decision is needed and needed now! What else is there to think about?
well deserved isolation.