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Australia's tour to Pakistan unlikely

pasag

RTDAS
Just 3 quick points to make:

1. Unfortunate decision by Cricket Australia not to tour Pakistan. One can understand fully from the point of view of the families of the Aussie cricketers, given that the only source of information about the place were from the media.

2. More unfortunate is the action by ICC. No official explanation sought for cancellation of tour. I think ICC should have arranged for a neutral security agency having the endorsement of both Australian and Pakistan boards and assess the security situation in Pakistan. Neither you or me can make a 100% perfect judgement from sitting outside Pakistan.

3. If Cricket Australia doesnt honor its commitment to do the tour in November / December (Hee Hee- Peak of Australian Home season) , then its in contravention of the ICC touring guidelines and Pakistan Cricket Board has every right to claim compensation for the same.
Agree with all these points, especially point two.

CA should be doing everything in their power to arrange another tour, if they're found to be dragging their feet in the future then the PCB have every right to be upset.
 

Precambrian

Banned
Cricket Australia's blame lies in the fact that they didnt send in a security agency of their own, nor allowed PCB to arrange one, to assess the situation. Instead they took the unilateral postponement(read cancellation) of the decision, giving puck's regards to ICC's Test timetable to which they are a signatory.

And the Australian players are happy. Wonderfully happy, won't they be? Well they'd be! Just compare the schedule of theirs since the World Cup in March 2003

April ----> WC Winners
May, June, July, August - REST!
September ---> 20 - 20!!!
October -----> SL series
November ------> NZ ODI series, REST
December end ----> India series starts
January - March 1st week ---> India series, Tri series
Flabbergasted! Says Ponting!!

Now again REST

Then the money making IPL.... !!!

May Middle --> WI series

Dhoni'd be jealous of Symonds for the schedule he's enjoying right now.
 
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pasag

RTDAS
I thought they did send a delegation? They were certainly planning to.

It's not like they acted solely on the media though, they did employ reports to be made and were briefed by the government on a few occasions. I was watching a press conference with the Foreign Minister the other day and he said he and his department were in regular (iirc) contact with CA, advising them of the situation.
 

Precambrian

Banned
Agreed. Still If CA was in supposedly touch with Australian Embassy in Pakistan, and Australian Press in Pakistan, etc, etc, still, that makes the pull out unilateral.

The Test tour programme was an official document which was signed and renewed by all Test playing nations (God help me, I cannot find a copy in the net though! help!). And Cricket Australia, is too bound by it to tour Pakistan. Had the threat been blatant and direct, say, a declaration of War etc, then, CA has every right to go back on its commitment.

The problem here is not the pull out. But the MANNER of the pull out. Cricket Australia should have shown the grace to consent to PCB's request for a security agency to inspect the conditions. Believe me, a heartfelt and empathetic "No" is more satsifying to a subcontinental than a heartless one.
 
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pasag

RTDAS
Actually, looking through the chronology of the story on cricinfo, it appears that although they acted on 'independent info', they never sent a delegation that was due to go around this time. Could it be that they were afraid of a green light given but then the players would refuse to go anyways (especially with the ACA refusing to go on the delegation)? Regardless, they really should have sent a team before making the decision or at least asked the ICC to do so.
 

social

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Actually, looking through the chronology of the story on cricinfo, it appears that although they acted on 'independent info', they never sent a delegation that was due to go around this time. Could it be that they were afraid of a green light given but then the players would refuse to go anyways (especially with the ACA refusing to go on the delegation)? Regardless, they really should have sent a team before making the decision or at least asked the ICC to do so.
Nope, Australian gov't advised that iw wasnt safe to send a security delegation either
 

Son Of Coco

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Just 3 quick points to make:

1. Unfortunate decision by Cricket Australia not to tour Pakistan. One can understand fully from the point of view of the families of the Aussie cricketers, given that the only source of information about the place were from the media.

2. More unfortunate is the action by ICC. No official explanation sought for cancellation of tour. I think ICC should have arranged for a neutral security agency having the endorsement of both Australian and Pakistan boards and assess the security situation in Pakistan. Neither you or me can make a 100% perfect judgement from sitting outside Pakistan.

3. If Cricket Australia doesnt honor its commitment to do the tour in November / December (Hee Hee- Peak of Australian Home season) , then its in contravention of the ICC touring guidelines and Pakistan Cricket Board has every right to claim compensation for the same.

Not an iota of blame on the Cricketers here. But a bit on the Board, for not talking to them and trying to dispell, by sendnig a team to assess the secuirty there. Instead went blindly by current pop press. Not good for cricket in any run.
I think they probably would have consulted their embassy in Pakistan too for an opinion. They may not have, but it'd be common sense to suggest they probably did.
 

Fusion

Global Moderator
According to Pakistani newspaper The Dawn:

Cricket-Australia agree to split postponed tour of Pakistan KARACHI, Pakistan, April 19 (Reuters) - Cricket Australia have agreed to split their postponed tour of Pakistan into two and complete it before the teams meet in Australia in 2009, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Saturday. The Board said a final announcement of the new arrangement would be made in next two or three days. Australia postponed their tour to Pakistan in March because of security concerns. “Australia has been very receptive and cooperative and in the next two or three days we will hopefully be able to announce the revised schedule,” Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer of the PCB told reporters. Naghmi said five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game would be played first, then Australia would tour again to play three tests. Sources in the board told Reuters that Australia were expected to tour Pakistan before the Champions Trophy in late September and again in March 2009 for the tests. (Posted @ 18:58 PST)

If true, then good on CA to fulfill the obligation. I would gain a lot of respect for them if they go through with this plan.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Particularly good as I always think a Test series in the subcontinent especially often works-out best if played completely separate from ODIs.
 

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