 |
| |
WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
 |
|
 |
| ICC’s decision: In the best interests of the game |
|
|
|
Monday, July 28, 2008
From Asif Iqbal
Former Pakistan and Kent cricket captain
LONDON: The ICC’s decision to hold the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, as scheduled, must be hailed as a step in the right direction and in the best interests of the game. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has had to face some stiff opposition during the past few weeks and it too must be congratulated for all the hard work it has done to ensure the tournament stays in its designated place.
They had insisted all along that Pakistan was safe to hold a tournament of this stature and it appears as if their convictions, held in the face of unwavering attempts to take the Champions Trophy away from Pakistan, in the end paid dividends.
Looked at dispassionately, the arguments were in the PCB’s favour. The successful holding of the Asia Cup in June-July this year showed that Pakistan was fully equipped to do the job. All the teams that participated in that competition went away thoroughly satisfied and had no apprehensions of any sort.
The ICC security experts also had recommended in their report that the tournament should be allowed to go ahead in Pakistan. Cricket grounds have never been the target of terrorist violence in Pakistan and given the philosophy — if one can call it that — under which the militants operate, it is difficult to see why they should target a cricket match. The idea of catching the world’s attention through high profile strikes is simply not the way they operate.
The only argument against was provided by a private security consultant who had apparently raised some apprehensions in his report. It would have been less than reasonable for the ICC under the circumstances to go for the report of a private consultant disregarding the recommendations of its own security team.
Then of course, there was the heavy hand of India supporting Pakistan and the Asian block standing solidly united. Westerners are not used to dealing with such unity and the emergence of India as the world’s cricketing superpower is obviously not something everyone is comfortable with. But comfortable or not, it is very much the ground reality and therefore has to be accepted.
That is not easy, especially if traditionally one is accustomed to having one’s own way. That is why the authorities and the press in Australia, England and New Zealand have reacted so negatively to the ICC’s decision with talk floating around of a boycott. Any such boycott should lead to heavy fines but even if a legal way is found to evade the fines, it is almost certain that it will lead to the breakup of the ICC which, given the contradictory values that are at play in the organisation, would perhaps be no bad thing for it would not be the great tragedy that traditionalists fear it would be.
All that leaves the question of the apprehensions of some players which may be genuine enough. If some individual players sincerely feel uncomfortable with the idea of playing in Pakistan, then it is an individual decision for them either to play or withdraw from the side. No one can force anyone to play and I for one believe that apart from a few, most players will realise where their professional interests lie and will decide to tour.
Most of those that decide not to go, especially those whose places in the side are not entirely secure, will be taking a big professional chance for if their replacements score runs or take wickets, their future in the side will be open to doubt.
There would therefore be understandable pressure from them that if they are not willing to go, nobody should, and their associations will support them. But the boards should be clear what their job is here. They are all part of the ICC and it is the decision of the ICC, arrived at as per its rules, that the Champions Trophy should go ahead in Pakistan as scheduled.
They cannot violate a decision of the ICC without, for all practical purposes, finishing the ICC itself. And should that ever happen, it will be the minority of countries who have argued against the holding of the Trophy in Pakistan that will stand to suffer.
My personal experience is that no official representative international tournament is “devalued” by the absence of a few players, no matter how big their names may be.
People flocked to see the Pakistan-England series of 1978 although it was, for all practical purposes, a Pakistan second eleven with most of the senior players excluded because of the Packer controversy. The crowds still went because it was England v Pakistan — and the fact that Pakistan was well below full strength did not stop the tour.
It is now for England, Australia and New Zealand not to make this an issue of their pride and not to take the ICC’s decision as a “defeat”. This is the majority decision of the ICC and they should learn to respect it.
They should also not encourage the idea of a “second eleven” representing their countries for it only gives the impression that the lives of lesser cricketers is not quite as precious as the lives of the big names and that is not acceptable.
Players should be told clearly that the board is sending a representative team and if they, for whatever reason, feel they will not be able to tour, they should simply inform the board and not expect the board to go against the ICC’s ruling in this regard. If they fail to do that, international cricket could be plunged into the deepest turmoil it has ever known.
|
|
|
| Back
| Send
this story to Friend | Print
Version |
|
|
|
ISSN 1563-9479 
