After many false dawns, Pakistan cricket will confront its new way of life. It is fitting that the moment arrives against Australia, the country that plunged Pakistan cricket out of its period of glory with the double blow of the 1999 World Cup Final defeat and the match-fixing controversy whose flames were lit with approaches to Australian cricketers.

Now, while the rest of the world's cricketers strut in the surreal atmosphere of the IPL in South Africa, Australia have honoured a commitment to play Pakistan in the desert. Too little too late, will be the reaction of many Pakistan fans, but Pakistan cricket is currently eager to dine out even on breadcrumbs.

Nor is this time for self-pity. Pakistan's cricketers may justifiably feel that domestic and international circumstances are conspiring to crush their spirit, yet the Age of Khan must also be the Age of Pragmatism. Here is where the survival instinct must kick in and a desire to hold your head up high in the face of the storm.

Pakistan's players must seize any opportunity to compete on the international stage, and play with the passion and flair that will make their supporters proud and fill them with hope. Ironically, Pakistan may benefit from playing fewer matches as each contest will be seen to be precious rather than the excess that they had become used to.

Ultimately, this period will be a test of leadership. We cannot expect any from the PCB, hence Younis Khan must seize the day and lead the fight for Pakistan cricket's recovery.

This could be your moment Younis. Take it.

The ICC's decision to drop Pakistan as a venue for the next World Cup is a reasonable one. Pakistan's failure to protect Sri Lanka's cricketers looks even more shocking considering the level of security that now surrounds Pakistan's players. The failures of Pakistan's government and cricket board will take many years to recover from.

In the meantime, Pakistan cricket must focus on what is important: ensuring that it retains a viable domestic structure and regular international cricket. Trotting the globe is a lifeline for Younis Khan's team, an imposition that offers their only hope to remain competitive. When Pakistan take the field against Australia next week they should breathe in the relief of their new nomadic way, embrace it, and make it a success.

Of course, the international community should do more to support cricket in Pakistan but we know it won't. In these circumstances, hosting international matches is unimportant provided that neutral venues can secure sufficient revenue to sustain Pakistan cricket. A cricket series or tournament is fundamentally a revenue generating opportunity; for proof look no further than the IPL in South Africa. But keeping the sport alive is the utmost priority, and the lost chance to host a World Cup and other international matches is the least of Pakistan's problems.

	Shoaib Akhtar has been recalled to face Australia, but his inclusion is now hardly a cause for enthusiasm © AFP

Many of us love sport for its unpredictable twists and turns. Let's take the final one-day match of England's tour, for example. Or the captivating fluctuations in fortune of the English Premier League. On-field events are the focus of our fascination, a blessing that Pakistan cricket has not received for almost two years.

Pakistan's upcoming series against Australia offers a glimmer of hope that cricket might steal the headlines from non-playing controversies and tragedies. For the blight of Pakistan cricket is that off-field twists and turns have become so routine and so miserably damaging that a series without unnecessary distractions would be a cause for celebration.

It is hard, for example, to be enthusiastic about the recall of Shoaib Akhtar. Few Pakistan bowlers have matched Shoaib in full flight but even fewer have emulated his frailty. How many recent series have been preceded by positive statements about his fitness? Pakistan's globetrotting future must belong to other pace bowlers, a sad realisation even for this Shoaib Akhtar fan.

Shoaib has been a victim of circumstance as well as his own ill-judged approach to international cricket, a conclusion that holds true for Pakistan cricket in general over the last decade. It's payback time. In these days of domestic crisis, international isolation, and widespread misery, Pakistan's cricketers and administrators carry a great responsibility to help lift the mood of a battered nation.

Nobody can seriously expect a victory over Australia but some on-field heroics, some verve and passion would be a start. Unity and professionalism would help further. This wilderness age of Pakistan cricket requires a noble and determined spirit. Pakistan's players might be unfairly burdened with such responsibility, they might be ill-equipped for it, but they bear it nonetheless.

The battle for the survival of Pakistan cricket, a microcosm of a greater battle for survival, begins here.