International cricket to return to Pakistan

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South Africa’s cricketers will be the first from outside the subcontinent to tour Pakistan after four countries refused to travel there since September 2001.

South Africa are set to play three Tests in October after a one-day series also involving Bangladesh. The itinerary is yet to be confirmed. Pakistan will first host Bangladesh, cricket’s lowest-ranked nation, for two Tests in August.

“At this stage the series is going ahead,” Percy Sonn, president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, said in an interview. “It was never a problem to us and we haven’t even discussed playing at neutral venues. If the situation changes we will review it.”

Pakistan have had to stage Test series at neutral venues to fulfill their home fixtures as touring countries expressed concern over safety. They played three Tests against West Indies in the United Arab Emirates in February and three against Australia in Sri Lanka and the U.A.E. last month.

By the time Pakistan face Bangladesh the country will have staged two Tests in almost two years. England will have hosted about 14 in the same period.

The Pakistan Cricket Board vowed never to use neutral venues again after losing three-nil to world champions Australia. Depriving their people of international cricket damaged the game’s future and cut the board’s revenue, said PCB officials, who have always maintained that playing in Pakistan was safe.

“The whole situation was blown out of proportion and some hasty decisions were made,” said PCB director Chishty Mujahid. "It’s satisfying that countries will tour again and is something we’ve been working hard to achieve.

“The change of feeling follows a series of visits to the country. Sri Lanka sent a second string team last month and Bob Woolmer held a coaching conference in Karachi that attracted people from 12 Asian countries,” Mujahid said.

“International Cricket Council officials, including president Malcolm Gray and chief executive Malcolm Speed, will attend a development meeting in Pakistan on December 7th and 8th,” he said.

Further to West Indies and Australia, New Zealand cancelled their tour there days after the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States.

They then cancelled the rescheduled visit in May before the second Test when a bomb blast outside the team hotel killed 14 people. Sri Lanka also declined a short one-day tour last year. India’s refusal to go there is rooted more in politics.

The PCB said it missed out in about $25 million in income from January 2001 to March this year because of the cancelled tours.

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Good news indeed :k:

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Thats good news indeed. Whats better than playing a home series...plus the PCB lost lots of money because of teams not coming to Pakistan.

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Good news. I hope situation doesnt go out of control again before Oct'2003

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It would be good news if the Indian govt. allows its team to play in Pakistan in April next year.

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Very good news indeed and specially SA coming to PAK awesome!!! :k: :k: :k:

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by UMAIR316: *
It would be good news if the Indian govt. allows its team to play in Pakistan in April next year.
[/QUOTE]

Personaly I agree with you here. But hey Politician has never been rational in that part of world. So chances are very bleak.

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Chill guys…

Great to hear someone is gonna be playing in pakistan now… :k:
why cant they come in August… i might be there at that time… lol

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[q]Percy Sonn, president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, said in an interview. “It was never a problem to us and we haven’t even discussed playing at neutral venues. If the situation changes we will review it.” [/q]

Hats off to the South Africans for breaking with the trend of finding excuses to call off the tours to Pakistan. Showss that they want to compete with the best sides and prove themselves and they should be commended for that :k:

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UMAIR316 Ji

Now, now UMAIR316 Ji , Pakistan should not play Cricket with India in India or Pakistan except at International Venues hosting Multinational Events such as World Cup Etc.

Or is it that the attraction of Lucre ( Nearly fifty per cent of the Advertising Revenues in the ICC Cup at Colombo were from Indian Advertisers) and the Thrill of Playing to an Audience of up to 100,000 spectators per day ?

Have a Nice Day

=====

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From The Times, London, November 26, 2002

UMAIR316 Ji

This really explains the reason and confirms my view that Pakistan wants to play Cricket with India so that they can get the Thrill of playing to PACKED HOUSES of up to 100,000 Spectators PER DAY :

Zimbabwe uneasy over ICC scrutiny
From Jan Raath in Harare

AN ASSESSMENT of Zimbabwe’s capacity to hold its quota of six World Cup matches next year begins today with the commitment of the country’s small but zealous community of cricket supporters broken by economic collapse and outrage that President Robert Mugabe, the architect of the country’s misery, continues to be the patron of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU).
Tim Lamb, of the ECB, was the first of the 12-man delegation from the ICC to arrive here yesterday for the three-day inspection of security arrangements for the matches.

At the same time, cricket fans were told in advertisements in the local press of a hitherto unheard-of range of restrictions that will ban them from taking their beloved gas barbecues, beer-filled cooler bags and binoculars into the grounds of Harare Sports Club in the capital and Queen’s Ground in Bulawayo.

The loss of the World Cup matches here — with Australia, England, Holland, India, Namibia and Pakistan due to feature — would inflict a critical blow on the ZCU, which has spent about $750,000 (about £480,000) on bringing its two main grounds up to standard in the past two years. It also expects to earn about $6 million (about £3.8 million) from its share of world television rights, as well as one-thirteenth of the profits taken from the tournament by South Africa, the main hosts.

“The big extra is hosting the event and exposing our public to the World Cup and it will be the most exciting thing we coud possibly have in our own back yard,” Vince Hogg, the ZCU’s chief executive, said.

However, the present tour to Zimbabwe by Pakistan, who normally draw large crowds, has attracted a dismal response. In Bulawayo at the weekend the two one-day matches at Queen’s Ground, with a capacity of 6,000, attracted perhaps 2,500 spectators, half of them schoolchildren bussed in from the townships. Bookings in Harare for the remaining three one-day matches have been “way below normal”, officials said.

A call by local human rights organisations for a boycott of international cricket matches here has been enthusiastically taken up by many cricket supporters, drawn from Zimbabwe’s community of about 50,000 whites and the country’s black middle class.

UMAIR316 Ji : From the above you will realize that in the Two Five Day Tests and Five ODI Matches the total number of spectaors in about 13-15 days will be possibly 25,000. This figure will of course include the Thousands of School Children who are given free access to the Matches as the Stadium, in each and every case, is more than THREE-QUARTERS EMPTY.

Even now I hope that one day the relationship between Pakistan and India normalize and we can have the pleasure, if not physically than at least on TV, to watch the two OLD ENEMIES – India and Pakistan Cricket Teams play each other. You see it always brings the best out of both the Teams.

Have a Nice Day

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South Africa, Bangladesh To Tour Pakistan Next Year

LONDON, Nov 26: International cricket is set to return to Pakistan in August 2003 on a more regular basis after a recent history of cancelled or abandoned tours.

Since Dec 2000, only three cricket Test matches have been played in the country.

Various cancelled tours from January 2001 to March 2003 are said to have cost the Pakistan Cricket Board around US$25 million.

In May this year, New Zealand players walked out half way through a tour after a fatal suicide bomb attack outside their hotel in Karachi.

Four Test nations have refused to travel to Pakistan since Sept 2001, but that is now set to change.

Pakistan will first host Bangladesh for two Tests in August. There will then be a one-day tournament between those two nations and South Africa. And in October South Africa will play a Test series in Pakistan. “At this stage the series is going ahead,” Percy Sonn, president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, said in an interview.

**“It was never a problem to us and we haven’t even discussed playing at neutral venues. If the situation changes we will review it.” **

Pakistan have had to stage Test series at neutral venues to fulfill their home fixture commitments as touring countries expressed concern over safety. They played three Tests against West Indies in the United Arab Emirates in February and three against Australia in Sri Lanka and the UAE last month.

PCB vowed never to use neutral venues again after losing 3-0 to world champions Australia.

Depriving their people of international cricket damaged the game’s future, said PCB officials, who have always maintained that playing in Pakistan was safe.

Before West Indies and Australia pulled out of tours, New Zealand cancelled their Pakistan tour days after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Sri Lanka also declined a short one-day tour last year. India’s refusal to go there is rooted more in politics.-PPI