Australia's tour to Pakistan unlikely

[duffer]

Originally Posted by Burgey

Why would they go? Edit: the crowds I mean, not the players

If BOOM BOOM plays you'll get a crowd anywhere in the subcontinent. Probably get a few Shoaib fans coming down as well.

[biased indian]

Originally Posted by Burgey

Why would they go? Edit: the crowds I mean, not the players

for a change i would like to see the games....

Its test cricket...and at the end of the day you are watching it for the love of game rather than patriotism..u might actually like it

i am sure you will get more people in kolkata than you will get any where in pakistan..they just love test cricket

[Burgey]

Originally Posted by biased indian

for a change i would like to see the games....

Its test cricket...and at the end of the day you are watching it for the love of game rather than patriotism..u might actually like it

i am sure you will get more people in kolkata than you will get any where in pakistan..they just love test cricket

It would be interesting to see re. the crowds, if they decided to do it that way.

SST, there's more to what's lost than just poor crowds. If crowds are poor in Pakistan (and they are) how can the game be promoted there and the crowds improved if there is no hard, competitive test cricket played there? If anything it would bring the crowds back, surely it would be the home side against the number one ranked side, with some great players on board?

[sideshowtim]

Originally Posted by Burgey

It would be interesting to see re. the crowds, if they decided to do it that way.

SST, there's more to what's lost than just poor crowds. If crowds are poor in Pakistan (and they are) how can the game be promoted there and the crowds improved if there is no hard, competitive test cricket played there? If anything it would bring the crowds back, surely it would be the home side against the number one ranked side, with some great players on board?

It's not like no side is ever going to tour Pakistan again. The PCB need to realise that, at the present time, their country is unsafe to tour and act accordingly. We would certainly tour Pakistan if it was safe to do so. Playing at a neutral venue is better than not playing the tour at all for the game and its future in Pakistan.

[duffer]

Pakistan as of now is hardly any different to any time in the last decade. It's the nature of the country: Extremism and general volatility is a fact of life there.

[sideshowtim]

Originally Posted by duffer

Pakistan as of now is hardly any different to any time in the last decade. It's the nature of the country: Extremism and general volatility is a fact of life there.

Yes, it generally is a place that you need to exercise caution, but at the moment, due to the recent elections things are more heated. They should cool down soon enough, but until then...

I'm sorry, you can try and tell me it's as safe as you want, but I trust independent security delegations who have done a lot of research into this more than some bloke telling me you're more likely to get robbed than blown up by a terrorist.

[duffer]

I'm not saying it's safe, what I'm saying is it's no different to any other time during the country's history.

EDIT: I can't see any Australian team going anywhere near the place for a very very long time.

[Laurrz]

Originally Posted by Burgey

It would be interesting to see re. the crowds, if they decided to do it that way.

if its in England im sure the Pakistanis and Aussies living in England wouldnt mind

[sideshowtim]

Originally Posted by Laurrz

if its in England im sure the Pakistanis and Aussies living in England wouldnt mind

It'll be too hard. Clashes with the County season which uses all the grounds all the time.

[biased indian]

Originally Posted by sideshowtim

It'll be too hard. Clashes with the County season which uses all the grounds all the time.

pakistan will loose the home ground condition also

they will be far different

[TT Boy]

Originally Posted by sideshowtim

It'll be too hard. Clashes with the County season which uses all the grounds all the time.

No, counties do have and use 'out-grounds' throughout the season.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by biased indian

pakistan will loose the home ground condition also

they will be far different

Reckon if the Pakistan authorities can pick the grounds and get to tell the groundsmen what to prepare they'd have a better chance in England than in India.

The problem would not, incidentally, be clashes with the county season but with the Test season over here. There's no way on Earth the ECB are going to want two Tests going on concurrantly, or even two series doing such. That's a shame, 'cos I personally would love to see Pakistan-Australia over here, but it's the way it is.

[Redbacks]

I guess the Aussie players will be happy they can play in the IPL now

Seems unfair for the tests to be played in England

[silentstriker]

Originally Posted by sideshowtim

It's not like no side is ever going to tour Pakistan again. The PCB need to realise that, at the present time, their country is unsafe to tour and act accordingly. We would certainly tour Pakistan if it was safe to do so. Playing at a neutral venue is better than not playing the tour at all for the game and its future in Pakistan.

It's only unsafe for Australia. Bangladesh will be touring instead in the same timeslot, and every other country has toured Pakistan...except Australia. I've said my thoughts in this thread, so I won't repeat them.

I just hope it'll come back to bite them hard very soon. I hope Pakistan cricket can move forward and the losses from this aren't be too significant. For once, BCCI should intervene and do something that's good for the game of cricket instead of good for themselves.

[Fusion]

Though this decision was expected, somehow I still got a high sting of disappointment. I was really looking forward to this series. Oh well, there's nothing the PCB can do about it now. What they need to focus on is to ensure this doesn't cause long-term damage to Pakistan. Lining up Bangladesh to play is a start. They should try to line up a few other teams. The best way to prove Australia wrong is to host an incident-free tournament (which preferably has a non-subcontinental team playing as well). What I wouldn't give to have an England, New Zealand, or South Africa come here for a ODI series and justify that Pakistan was safe for cricket. I must say, try as I might, I can't help but resent CA's decision. I don't think I will be that excited to play them in the future…whenever that day comes.