JOHANNESBURG, 24 September 2003 — The South African cricket team will go ahead with a shortened tour to Pakistan next month after calling off a full tour on security grounds, cricket officials said yesterday.
Cricket board of directors met in Johannesburg to discuss a revised tour proposal submitted by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
“Having regard to the removal of Karachi and Peshawar from the proposed revised schedule ... and having heard the views of the South African Police Services, the board has resolved in principle to proceed with a revised, shortened tour of Pakistan,” Cricket SA (Pty) Ltd said in a statement.
The Proteas had been due to arrive in Pakistan on Monday but South African officials called off the tour on Saturday following a bomb blast in the southern port city of Karachi.
The bomb exploded in an empty Karachi office building on Friday night. No one was injured.
Cricket officials added: “The resolution to proceed with the tour in principle is subject to the board remaining satisfied, on an ongoing basis, with both the security plan and the satisfactory implementation thereof by the Pakistani authorities.”
South Africa would be the first major team to tour Pakistan since last year’s car bomb blast outside New Zealand’s hotel in Karachi which forced the Kiwis to pack their bags and cut short their tour by one Test.
Since then Australia have refused to play a tri-series in August and a Test series in October. Both were later played at neutral venues.
Officials said the South African tour would take place “as soon as possible — plans are for this to occur in October.”
PCB chairman Tauqir Zia on Monday threatened to take the matter to the International Cricket Council dispute committee if the matter was not resolved and a rescheduled tour did not materialize.
A three-member UCBSA delegation visited the two venues last week and were briefed by security personnel in Pakistan who assured them that South African cricketers would be provided security normally reserved for heads of state.
Pakistan had given South Africa options for different venues, saying Rawalpindi and Lahore were the main venues for the rescheduled series, but that work had to be done on the revised itinerary as television coverage needed to be adjusted because there was also a series between India and New Zealand in India.
South African captain Graeme Smith, who was informed of the decision with coach Eric Simons, said the only concern of Cricket SA (Pty) Ltd was the safety of the players.
“We want to play cricket but we don’t want to play it in a war zone,” he told the SAPA news agency.
“The United Cricket Board has assured us that we will be safe and we have to put our trust in them. I am sure there will be a lot of security wherever we go.”
Pakistan welcomed South Africa’s decision saying their cancellation at the weekend had created “hard times” for Pakistani cricket.
“We feel it is a welcome sign for cricket in Pakistan because we have gone through very hard times in the last four days,” Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Executive Ramiz Raja told AFP. Raja said Pakistan agreed to eliminate the two venues to save the tour.
“Unfortunately Karachi and Peshawar do not feature in the revised itinerary but we have agreed to eliminate these two venues only to save the tour.”
Karachi, Peshawar Solution
Needed, Says Miandad
In Karachi, Pakistan coach Javed Miandad has urged cricket officials to find a permanent solution to the problem of foreign teams refusing to play in Karachi or Peshawar for security reasons.
Miandad said: “I think this situation cannot go on for long. Karachi and Peshawar cannot be isolated as international venues.” He urged the International Cricket Council to find “a logical solution” to the problem.
“It would have been a big setback to Pakistan cricket if the tour had not taken place at all,” Miandad said.
“I am relieved they are coming because we badly needed to play international cricket at home.”
Pakistani skipper Rashid Latif said: “I think in the end it is best that we have South Africa coming to Pakistan. Once they come, hopefully this problem of teams refusing to play in some cities will be resolved once and for all.”
