‘Always been supportive of Pakistan cricket’ – Johnny Grave
Johnny Grave, Cricket West Indies (CWI) chief executive, says the West Indies’ upcoming tour of Pakistan, for a three-match Twenty20 International series, will help aid the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in their efforts to ensure regular international cricket at home.
Earlier this month, Najam Sethi, the PCB chairman, made the details of the tour official and while the fact that the tour itself would take place wasn’t too surprising – international cricket has started to return to Pakistan in recent times – what was noteworthy was the change in venue.
Instead of Lahore, which had been the venue for all international cricket in Pakistan over the last few years, the National Stadium in Karachi will host the three matches.
On April 1, when Pakistan and West Indies step out on to the field, it will be the first international match played in Karachi since 2009.
It is another step towards something resembling normalcy for fans of the sport in Pakistan. They have been largely starved of live top-level cricket since the attack on the touring Sri Lankans’ bus in 2009 led to international cricket ceasing to be played in the country.
“All players understand the impact that not playing at home has had on cricket in Pakistan,” says Grave. “Several of our players took part in the World XI and Pakistan Super League matches in Pakistan, and they are supportive.”
In 2015, Zimbabwe played a brief limited-overs series in Lahore over the course of 10 days. Thereafter, the final of the PSL was staged at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore in 2017, and Karachi held the last few matches of the 2018 edition earlier this week. In September 2017, a World XI side, comprising the likes of Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, George Bailey, Thisara Perera and Darren Sammy, played a three-match T20 series in Lahore too. And in October, crucially, Sri Lanka returned to Pakistan, eight years after that attack, to play the last T20I of their three-match series in Lahore.
There is, Grave says, a mutual support system among the cricket boards to help each other out. “The World XI games were a clear indication from the PCB that it was manageable for international cricket to return to Pakistan,” he says. “All boards want to be playing at home, on home soil, in front of the home fans. Pakistan were being forced to play away (in the UAE) for so long that everyone in world cricket was supportive of cricket returning to Pakistan.
“We weren’t scheduled to play them for a few years. But they approached us, and proposed the No.1 T20I side play the reigning World T20 champions in a three-match series in Pakistan. We’ve always been very supportive of Pakistan cricket and we wanted to do our best to support them. As soon as we received the security go-ahead, we approached WIPA (West Indies Players Association) and the players to get their support.”
CWI’s association with Pakistan isn’t restricted to on-field matters. Grave revealed some of the other proposals in the pipeline. “We won’t make short-term money out of the series but we are working on a joint strategy with Pakistan to support Canada and US cricket and obviously to help bring cricket back to Pakistan,” he says. “We have started to explore with PCB opportunities to partner together in economic terms.
“We are looking at ways to increase resources, and to tap into the huge expat communities for both of us is in Canada and the USA. We’re trying to see how we can support their development, take top-level international cricket there, and engage these expat communities.”
Grave also stresses the competitive spirit in which the matches will be played. “These are not exhibition games,” he says. “They are important, full internationals, and they will showcase the next generation of Windies stars. We’ll be looking to climb up the rankings (with victory in the series) and build our white-ball team ahead of World T20 2020.”
As regards any West Indies players who choose not to travel, Grave says, “We fully accept that position and it will not be held against them."
As for matters of on-field performance, Grave is confident that despite West Indies having had to qualify for the Cricket World Cup at the CWC Qualifier due to their low ranking, that experience should stand them in good stead going forward.
“We can now start to plan and do everything we can to try and win our third World Cup. The challenge is to be consistent. In knock-out cricket under intense pressure anyone can beat anyone. It’s just about handling the pressure.
“There was relief at our qualification – we were under real pressure, the schedule was tough, teams were playing seven games pretty much back-to-back. it was a real physical and mental test.”
He also lauded the overall standard of the competition. “The quality of the games was high,” he said. “Irrespective of fact that we were favourites, we were playing against very good sides. There were four Full Members and only two slots available, the challenge was to cope with the pressure and conditions. We lost to Afghanistan but beat everyone else. Other Full Members would have found it challenging too.”
Grave also feels the change in format going into this series should benefit West Indies. “We are naturally suited to T20 with our style of white ball cricket,” he says. “Ours is a power game, hitting boundaries. We are always confident in T20.”
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