From TJ, New Zealand
I am concerned for Pakistani cricket. I'm concerned for cricket in general - the only good news in recent times being Sri Lanka cricket's recent decision vis-a-vis the ICL, but I'm concerned most for Pakistani cricket. It was after all the Pakistani fast bowlers of the 1992 World Cup that made me fall in love with this game.
There are many ills to the game in that country, and like other subcontinental nations they seem cursed to endure incompetent or self interested bureaucrats being in charge. I don't expect that to change any time soon. Neither do I expect the violence that plagues their country at present to subside. Violence that will surely continue to deter teams from touring there. This means either we don't see any more Pakistan matches, or we see the ICC force play. Neither is acceptable. We want to see Pakistan matches, but we don't want to see them play opponents who are in fear for their lives.
This is why I suggest that the Pakistani cricket board re-locate to the United Arab Emirates. There is a seizable Pakistani diaspora in the UAE who I'm sure would appreciate the opportunity to watch regular cricket. And of course, there are no major security concerns in the UAE. If the Pakistani team and board is based in the UAE, in addition to saving money on travel costs to attend ICC meetings, they can work with the local UAE team to help them towards more success.
Finally, I'm sure any self-interested bureaucrats will enjoy the lifestyle Dubai offers (or the more conservative Sharjah if that's more to their taste).
Yes, go to the UAE, make others happy --- that is your solution?
This is the most embarrasing thing Pakistani team has done to themselves. They have absolutely no pride for themselves or their country. If the security makes it impossible for them to play, they should have swallowed their pride and waited until the situation gets better. They should have penalized teams not agreeing to tour by not playing with them on their next tour to the opposing nation.
By listening to others and acting upon their so called 'expert' advice, PCB has proved to the World that Pakistan is a bad and dangerous place to be and that nobody - not even Zimbabwe needs to tour Pakistan, we can all play outside of Pakistan the Pakistani series.
Shame on PCB - disgrace to 170 million Pakistanis. On the other hand, I am very proud of the Zimbabwe Cricket Board of how they have kept their influence in the game.
I found this amusing for a number of reasons and I've written a blog here hoping to address all the related issues, don't know if they will publish it. My questions are why the UAE and not India who are probably in a better position to host as well? Who's going to pay for all the additional costs incurred, the teams that have decided not to tour or will the PCB split this with them? Would Cricket NZ consider this option if the four asian countries were worried of a hypothetically similar situation in NZ?
I guess my main question is related to why a board should relocate when there are clearly some teams who are willing to tour the country, is it worth relocating to accommodate the reluctant guests?
I like your digs at "self-interested bureaucrats" but it is a bit rich when NZ doesn't quite seem to be leading any of the charts, it is in fact debatable that they're better than Pakistan even now! You're not going to take refuge in that population argument again are you?
Last time I checked PCB stood for Pakistan Cricket Board not UAE cricket board. If countries like Aus, NZ and Eng are not willing to tour Pak for whatever dubious and selfish reasons then so be it. If they want to tour Pakistan then that means landing in Pakistan... not stopping short of it. If PCB relocates to UAE on even temp basis then they can stay in UAE indefinitely. They won't be wanted in Pakistan except to throw rotten eggs at them.
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