‘Teams should consider touring Pakistan’

KARACHI: Former England captain Paul Collingwood has urged international teams to tour Pakistan after a World XI made a successful visit of the country for a T20 series earlier this month.

Collingwood, who was part of the World XI squad that featured players from several nations, said in an interview that the sort of security they received was unprecedented.“We were there five days and if you had that level of security for a longer tour, I can’t imagine how much it would cost,” Collingwood commented in a BBC Radio programme.

“It was like having the army around you at all times, which was excellent because we knew we were safe, [but] the disruption it must cause to everyday living, because they literally closed all the roads to get to the ground.

“If you can sustain that level of security for a longer period of time, I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t tour there.”The World XI players were heavily guarded throughout their stay, and Collingwood sees no reason why other nations should not follow suit, providing that similar safety measures can be guaranteed.

He, however, admitted to having doubts before taking the trip, but said the response received from the Pakistan players and supporters made it more than a worthwhile exercise.

“I was a bit skeptical when I first signed up, and I haven’t had a great time with Pakistan cricket in the past in terms of [Mohammad] Amir and no-balls [in 2010], the ball tampering [allegations in 2006] etc so I was thinking ‘do I want to support that’ but after the week I’ve had I’m really proud I’ve been involved,” he said.

“There’s a bigger picture and to see the Pakistan players’ faces to play in front of their home crowd, to get their feelings and how much it meant to them, they were saying ‘thank you, it means so much to us’.

“You feel as though you’ve done something good for the game. I probably didn’t realise the impact it had. We’re a cricketing family and you have to help each other out.“It’s a small stepping stone, we know it’s not the final piece of the jigsaw, and Pakistan cricket know that but they’re trying their hardest to get things happening again.”

Several teams have refused to visit Pakistan amid security concerns since the Sri Lanka bus was attacked by gunmen in March 2009.Pakistan have been forced to play their home matches in the United Arab Emirates, but it was announced last month that both Sri Lanka and West Indies would arrive for tours later this year, in the event of the World series going ahead undisrupted. —with inputs from agencies