Australia's decision to postpone their tour to Pakistan has drawn a sharp reaction from Khalid Hussain of the Times.

Cutting a long story short, one has to say that Australia’s decision to stay away from Pakistan is another huge loss for a country where cricket is perhaps the biggest passion. It might sound like a cliche but by chickening out of what was a challenging assignment, the Aussies have handed the terrorists operating in this unfortunate country a major victory.

That said, Cricket Australia’s decision to hold back its cricketers came as no surprise. All the wrong signals had been coming from Down Under for quite a few months. The Australians, it is believed, made up their mind against touring Pakistan after the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto last December but players like Andrew Symonds had been cribbing about the visit much before that tragedy.