- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
- Runs
- 217,903
Ehsan Mani has been around for too long to fall into the trap of suggesting that Pakistan’s tour of Covid-19-hit England is the precursor to a return favour. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t crossing his fingers.
The 75-year-old is chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and has previously served as ICC president, so he knows the contours of cricket politics. But he is, by his own admission, not one to hang around. He is adamant his country is ready to host England — and is determined to make it happen.
A lot has changed since they last toured Pakistan, in October 2005. Tony Blair was Prime Minister. England had just beaten Australia for the first time in 18 years. Some of the players might still have been tipsy from the partying. Little did Michael Vaughan’s team know, it would be their last visit for many years.
In March 2009, terrorists in Lahore attacked the buses carrying the Sri Lankan team and match officials, leaving six police officers and two civilians dead — and Pakistan a no-go zone.
Now, Mani, who in August 2018 was nominated as board chairman by Imran Khan, the country’s Prime Minister and greatest cricketer — feels the time is right for the so-called western Test teams to lay their fears aside and see Pakistan for the safe haven he believes it now is.
‘We’ve not linked anything with this tour,’ Mani tells Sportsmail. ‘But cricket needs to get together. I’ve been in discussions with England since I became chairman. We’ve had ECB chief executive Tom Harrison out here. He enjoyed his time and we wanted to make him feel comfortable.
‘I’m confident the levels of security will be good. My wife, Frances, drives herself around Islamabad, and I don’t feel the need for any security or guards. No place in the world is risk-free, but all things being equal, I don’t see why England can’t visit Pakistan.’
England’s next ‘away’ series against Pakistan — which in 2011-12 and 2015-16 meant the United Arab Emirates — is due in 2022-23.
But Mani is not interested in another geographical fudge. ‘It won’t be the UAE,’ he says. ‘Either England come to Pakistan, or they don’t tour at all.’
Pakistan deserve sympathy. England have visited both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the aftermath of more recent acts of terrorism in those countries. Before Christmas, they were in New Zealand, only months after a gunman left 51 dead at a mosque in Christchurch. And the 2005 Ashes might never have happened if the Australians had been spooked by the London bombings that July.
‘One of the issues is the perception of the country,’ says Mani. ‘I would encourage people to visit us. People are pleasantly surprised by what they see. When Dave Richardson was chief executive of the ICC, he was out for dinner at midnight, and was amazed that the restaurants were all full. It’s relaxed.’
Others have already taken the plunge. Zimbabwe visited in May 2015, only for a suicide bomber to detonate a gas cylinder outside Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, killing two. A World XI arrived in September 2017, followed by a lone T20 against Sri Lanka. A weakened West Indies team arrived in April 2018.
But those sides were paid extra to come, and Mani is fed up of friendly bribes. Sri Lanka returned for Pakistan’s first home Tests, in Rawalpindi and Karachi, in December. Then came Bangladesh, only for the tour to be interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now, after a successful visit by an MCC team captained by Kumar Sangakkara — one of the Sri Lankan tourists caught up in the 2009 attack — Mani is extending the invitation to England. The benefits for the game in Pakistan, he says, would be incalculable.
‘If a team like England came, it would be out of this world,’ he says. ‘I had teenagers come up to me in tears and say they’ve never seen Test cricket in Pakistan. The England players are well followed in Pakistan, but only ever on TV. To see them in real life would be a fantastic experience for people, and much better than empty stadiums in Dubai or Sharjah.’
Pakistan’s exile has not just drained emotions, it has emptied coffers. Mani says the PCB forked out $50,000 for each day’s cricket in the UAE. They now need $20-30million to upgrade facilities that have spent a decade lying dormant.
Mani praises the work done by former ECB chairman Giles Clarke in his former role as head of the ICC’s Pakistan task force, whose goal was to return international cricket to the country. But he is critical of the part Clarke played, along with India’s N. Srinivasan, in redistributing ICC funds in early 2014 to benefit the ‘Big Three’ of India, England and Australia.
‘They introduced large hosting fees. So what England earned from the 2019 World Cup is roughly what Pakistan gets over eight years from the ICC — about $100-125m. Our financial situation is now exceedingly urgent.
‘World cricket needs a strong Pakistan. You’ll eventually get bored if you just have England playing Australia.’
Like West Indies, the Pakistanis, who have been preparing in Worcester and Derby ahead of the three-Test series, are here at their own risk.
It doesn’t seem unreasonable to suggest England may soon be willing to repay the favour.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/c...urges-England-visit-terrorism-hit-nation.html
The 75-year-old is chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and has previously served as ICC president, so he knows the contours of cricket politics. But he is, by his own admission, not one to hang around. He is adamant his country is ready to host England — and is determined to make it happen.
A lot has changed since they last toured Pakistan, in October 2005. Tony Blair was Prime Minister. England had just beaten Australia for the first time in 18 years. Some of the players might still have been tipsy from the partying. Little did Michael Vaughan’s team know, it would be their last visit for many years.
In March 2009, terrorists in Lahore attacked the buses carrying the Sri Lankan team and match officials, leaving six police officers and two civilians dead — and Pakistan a no-go zone.
Now, Mani, who in August 2018 was nominated as board chairman by Imran Khan, the country’s Prime Minister and greatest cricketer — feels the time is right for the so-called western Test teams to lay their fears aside and see Pakistan for the safe haven he believes it now is.
‘We’ve not linked anything with this tour,’ Mani tells Sportsmail. ‘But cricket needs to get together. I’ve been in discussions with England since I became chairman. We’ve had ECB chief executive Tom Harrison out here. He enjoyed his time and we wanted to make him feel comfortable.
‘I’m confident the levels of security will be good. My wife, Frances, drives herself around Islamabad, and I don’t feel the need for any security or guards. No place in the world is risk-free, but all things being equal, I don’t see why England can’t visit Pakistan.’
England’s next ‘away’ series against Pakistan — which in 2011-12 and 2015-16 meant the United Arab Emirates — is due in 2022-23.
But Mani is not interested in another geographical fudge. ‘It won’t be the UAE,’ he says. ‘Either England come to Pakistan, or they don’t tour at all.’
Pakistan deserve sympathy. England have visited both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the aftermath of more recent acts of terrorism in those countries. Before Christmas, they were in New Zealand, only months after a gunman left 51 dead at a mosque in Christchurch. And the 2005 Ashes might never have happened if the Australians had been spooked by the London bombings that July.
‘One of the issues is the perception of the country,’ says Mani. ‘I would encourage people to visit us. People are pleasantly surprised by what they see. When Dave Richardson was chief executive of the ICC, he was out for dinner at midnight, and was amazed that the restaurants were all full. It’s relaxed.’
Others have already taken the plunge. Zimbabwe visited in May 2015, only for a suicide bomber to detonate a gas cylinder outside Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, killing two. A World XI arrived in September 2017, followed by a lone T20 against Sri Lanka. A weakened West Indies team arrived in April 2018.
But those sides were paid extra to come, and Mani is fed up of friendly bribes. Sri Lanka returned for Pakistan’s first home Tests, in Rawalpindi and Karachi, in December. Then came Bangladesh, only for the tour to be interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now, after a successful visit by an MCC team captained by Kumar Sangakkara — one of the Sri Lankan tourists caught up in the 2009 attack — Mani is extending the invitation to England. The benefits for the game in Pakistan, he says, would be incalculable.
‘If a team like England came, it would be out of this world,’ he says. ‘I had teenagers come up to me in tears and say they’ve never seen Test cricket in Pakistan. The England players are well followed in Pakistan, but only ever on TV. To see them in real life would be a fantastic experience for people, and much better than empty stadiums in Dubai or Sharjah.’
Pakistan’s exile has not just drained emotions, it has emptied coffers. Mani says the PCB forked out $50,000 for each day’s cricket in the UAE. They now need $20-30million to upgrade facilities that have spent a decade lying dormant.
Mani praises the work done by former ECB chairman Giles Clarke in his former role as head of the ICC’s Pakistan task force, whose goal was to return international cricket to the country. But he is critical of the part Clarke played, along with India’s N. Srinivasan, in redistributing ICC funds in early 2014 to benefit the ‘Big Three’ of India, England and Australia.
‘They introduced large hosting fees. So what England earned from the 2019 World Cup is roughly what Pakistan gets over eight years from the ICC — about $100-125m. Our financial situation is now exceedingly urgent.
‘World cricket needs a strong Pakistan. You’ll eventually get bored if you just have England playing Australia.’
Like West Indies, the Pakistanis, who have been preparing in Worcester and Derby ahead of the three-Test series, are here at their own risk.
It doesn’t seem unreasonable to suggest England may soon be willing to repay the favour.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/c...urges-England-visit-terrorism-hit-nation.html
