KARACHI, 14 February 2008 — Australian cricket officials have told their Pakistani counterparts that they have received security advice against touring Pakistan because of political unrest and violence, an official said yesterday.
Australia are due to tour Pakistan for three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 match next month but the fate of the series hangs in the balance after several Australian players raised security fears.
“We have received a letter from Cricket Australia (CA) and though they reiterated their commitment to supporting Pakistan cricket, they said that security briefings they have received are advising them against touring,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Nasim Ashraf told AFP.
Ashraf met CA Chairman Creagh O’Connor in Dubai earlier this month; a meeting which failed to produce a breakthrough as Australia continue to monitor the situation in Pakistan.
Ashraf said the PCB had advised CA to send their security delegation to Pakistan a week after national elections on Feb. 18.
“They (CA) have asked us whether we still want a security delegation sent here and if so when. In response to this, we have told CA that we still firmly believe that the environment for cricket and cricketers is still safe here and they must send their team on Feb. 25,” said Ashraf.
Ashraf said terrorism happened in other countries without affecting cricket.
“We stress that incidents could happen anywhere in the world. They happened in Sri Lanka, they happened in Glasgow last year when we were there for a one-day and bombs went off in England in 2005 when Australia were there,” Ashraf. “We have to make decisions not just on perceptions, but on ground realities. We are making every effort to ensure the tour goes ahead. It would be a big loss to Pakistan cricket if they didn’t tour.” Ashraf said there would be further talks on the tour between the officials of the two boards on the sidelines of an International Cricket Council meeting in Malaysia next week.
“Our officials Shafqat Naghmi and Zakir Khan will meet CA chief executive James Sutherland in Kuala Lumpur during the Under-19 World Cup and discuss arrangements for the security delegation with him.”
PCB have also promised personal bodyguards and sniffer dogs to protect Australian players as part of planned stringent security usually reserved for visiting heads of state.
Every Australian player will be provided bodyguards, while roads will be closed to all traffic when the tourists travel to and from the grounds, officials said.
ICL Signs More
Pakistani Players
In Karachi, the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) has signed 10 more Pakistan players for its next tournament.
Official sources confirmed the ICL had reached an agreement with 10 Pakistani players, taking the number to 16 since last year. Former Test player Humayun Farhat said he was one of the players who had signed up.
“Yes, I have signed up to play for the ICL,” Farhat told Reuters yesterday. “Despite being the best wicketkeeper in domestic cricket I have not got a chance to play for Pakistan.” Imran Nazir, Hasan Reza, Naved Latif, Rana Naved ul-Hasan, Mohammad Sami, Arshad Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq are also reported to have signed up.
Arshad said he had received an attractive offer from the ICL and had resigned from his post as a member of the national junior selection committee.
“At my age I have got some limited options, which I have taken up,” he added.
Pakistan’s cricket board has banned six players — Inzamam ul-Haq, Imran Farhat, Shabbir Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq, Taufiq Umar and Azhar Mahmood — who took part in the inaugural Twenty20 edition of the tournament last December.
The ICL is not recognized by International Cricket Council (ICC) member boards.
Pakistan’s board said its policy on players joining the ICL would remain unchanged.
“We are doing everything to increase financial benefits for our national and domestic players. But if anyone wants to join the ICL we wish him good luck,” said Zakir Khan, director cricket operations.
Indian Twenty20 League
Agrees $50m Title Deal
In Mumbai, the Indian cricket board’s official Twenty20 League (IPL) has secured five-year title sponsorship rights worth over $50 million ahead of its launch in April, organizers said yesterday.
Indian real estate developer DLF won the deal with a bid of 2 billion rupees ($50.3 million). “We had a minimum bid price of 125 crore (1.25 billion). We are very happy with the bid we got,” IPL chairman Lalit Modi told reporters.
The IPL, expected to involve many of the game’s top players, is an effort to counter an unofficial Indian Twenty20 league that began late last year.
The 44-day IPL starts on April 18 and will feature eight franchises in its inaugural season.
“At DLF, we always emphasize on nurturing and recognizing talent and this is one more achievement toward nurturing professional talent for the game of cricket in this country,” Rajeev Talwar, group executive director, DLF Limited, said in a statement.
Organizers announced last month they had secured a 10-year rights contract worth more than $1 billion. Television rights were worth $918 million, with another $100 million for the league’s promotion.
More than 80 international cricketers are expected to feature in a players’ auction in Mumbai on Feb. 20 with each franchise having a cap of $5 million.
Kapil Takes Legal Action
Against India Cricket Board
In New Delhi, retired cricket great Kapil Dev has taken the powerful Indian board to court for alleged victimization after he headed the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), reports said yesterday.
Dev applied to the Delhi High Court on Tuesday after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stopped his pension as a former international player and also sacked him as head of the National Cricket Academy.
“The only way of earning a livelihood for us retired cricketers is through the game and the board cannot, by illegally changing its rules and regulations, deprive us of the benefits,” media reports quoted Dev’s court affidavit as saying.
Dev, India’s only World Cup winning captain and one of the game’s great all-rounders, heads the ICL, which is bankrolled by the country’s largest listed media firm Zee Telefilms.
The ICL’s inaugural Twenty20 tournament, featuring retired stars like West Indian Brian Lara and Pakistan’s Inzamam ul-Haq alongside domestic players, was held in November-December.
Among former Indian players whose pensions were stopped by the BCCI for joining the ICL are Kiran More, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Sandeep Patil, Erapalli Prasanna, Madan Lal and Rajesh Chauhan.
