Most of all what stinks here is the kind of comments that come out from all quarters, and the general attitude:
- well the Lankans may not see any problems playing in Lanka afterall they are used to it. We the Aussies and the West Indians are not used to violence where we come from <chin at 45 degrees> , said by all and sundry in the 1996 WC leadup including the redoubtable Mark Taylor. The Aussies pointed at a colombo bomblast to say that "see we are not used to all this" though coincidentally there was a bomb blast of eerily similar destruction in Australia at about the same time.
- i cant shop without fear in Lanka, said by one Shane Warne in 1996 who then went on to hitch a ride in Pakistan with locals, outside the security net.
- constant statements about how they are going to check the security arrangements personally in a country they are going to travel. No, they cant take the word of the security officials of the host country (kinda strange becauase these officials simply cannot afford to let any visitor get hurt- their jobs, the image of their country, permission to host any world event all in balance every single tour). What's more, after verifying security arrangements and finding them alright, choosing to tour remains the board's prerogative. They dont make their 'findings' or their nature public. They end up defaming and insulting the nation they are 'considering' touring. They finally may or may not listen to the security advice. One hoax or a threat can reduce their players to tears and they wont tour!
Think from the point of view of the officials who have spent so much time, effort, money on organizing the event and have so many expectations built up. Don't they deserve a better reason? When the security officials of the host country and the security officials of the ICC assess that the players arent in danger, and the visitors still pull out, what do you think they are thinking? And then there are the natural statements of "in our place we dont see all these bombings and violence. they are used to living like that. etc. etc." I dont think Kenya or Zimbabwe will be complaining if there is an open threat assessed by the officials at home, or from the ICC.
Never mind that at the 1996 WC the organizers even offered to fly the teams directly to the PRemadasa Stadium from Madras, clear kilometers around the stadium 72 hours before the matches, make sure that nobody will need to set foot outside the stadium, search every single spectator a couple of hours before the match, and even arranged hastily a match between an combined India-Pakistan team vs SL to demonstrate that they think it is safe enough. What's more, Warne didnt have to do any shopping! That was still not enough. They cited a bomb blast in Colombo in a bank ( i think) before the WC and pulled out.
They went on to tour England though the IRA had just blasted a bomb in London ahead of the Ashes. There the security threat was not an issue. Hell, I remember even the terrorist organization the threat was from actually isued a statement that they will NOT target cricketers and the WC!
There's simply a whole lot of snobbishness, and very significant cultural differences between nations that widens each day.
In the subcontinent, people feel insulted about these comments and this behaviour, and dont see any problem in giving it back by refusing to tour. (thats what SA wants to do now.) Aus-Eng-NZ dont see a position of equality in the first place and bristle at the thought of a comparison with the Asian and African countries. So just see brinksmanship and fail to understand that the anger comes as a result of insulting comments like Taylor's and Warne's.
All I'd like to say is that sooner than later this attitude is going to catch up with them. The precedents being set today may well end up a kick on the chin later.