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Sri Lanka board president wants Pakistan tour for first time since 2009

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Sri Lanka Cricket president Thilanga Sumathipala wants his team to tour Pakistan for the first time since their bus was attacked by gunmen in Lahore.

Since that 2009 attack, Zimbabwe have been the only full international side to tour Pakistan, playing five limited-overs games in Lahore in 2015.

"I am keen to take my team to Pakistan," said Sumathipala.

"We have three Twenty20 games against Pakistan in September and we would like to play at least one in Lahore."

Pakistan have played most of their "home" games since 2009 in the United Arab Emirates, although they "hosted" Australia in England in 2010.

As well as Sri Lanka, Pakistan are also hoping to host an International Cricket Council (ICC) World XI in September, which has led the Pakistan Cricket Board to recall its players currently playing overseas, in English county cricket and the Caribbean Premier League.

However, in June, a series of proposed games between Pakistan and Afghanistan were cancelled following a bomb attack in Kabul, while Pakistan and India have not met in Test cricket since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Speaking at the Asian Cricket Council's annual general meeting in Colombo, Sumathipala added: "We have had our security experts visit and make an assessment, and things look positive with things improving all over the country and especially Lahore being cleared.

"There is always risk - there were two attacks in London during the Champions Trophy, but cricket continued under the security assurances of the ICC, so we too must be as accommodating and understanding as possible with our members and extend our fullest support to them as the cricketing family of Asia.

"Sri Lanka suffered through three decades of terrorism and war and at one stage no one wanted to come here - Pakistan stood by us then, as did India."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/40918974
 
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This will be a huge boost for cricket to come home, if it happens. :)
 
Wonderful gesture from Sri Lanka.
Lets not go overboard though and shut businesses down with the purpose of creating fortress
 
It will largely depend upon World XI series. Some interesting days coming up for Pakistan Cricket. IF SLC visits Pakistan, I am seeing no reason why BD should not come to Pakistan.
 
They are keen but won't confirm due to blackmail by .... well you know which board it is.
 
and if it goes poorly?

do you think pakistan is genuinely ready?
 
cricketerB94 said:
It will largely depend upon World XI series. Some interesting days coming up for Pakistan Cricket. IF SLC visits Pakistan, I am seeing no reason why BD should not come to Pakistan.
Click to expand...

If there is enough security why not. Shakib and Tamim expressed their interest to travel to Pakistan.

But I think it's counterproductive to show the world that Pakistan is safe by having a few hundred commandos stationed everywhere.

I think arranging matches should be done only for the sake of the passionate fans who want to see the match at the stadium.

Otherwise all these PSL finals or Zimbabwe tour are not going to help. Bangladesh may or may not tour soon. But I doubt Srilanka will just because their board president said so. It depends on Lankan cricketers too.
 
cricketerB94 said:
It will largely depend upon World XI series. Some interesting days coming up for Pakistan Cricket. IF SLC visits Pakistan, I am seeing no reason why BD should not come to Pakistan.
Click to expand...

I have a good feeling that most of the players from BD won't mind travelling considering that proper security is provided. It seems to me that both board's incompetent leaders are the culprits here. We can all sit here and argue he said she said but at the end of the day, it's a business. The way both of these two boards are behaving, as if they are in kindergarden. A business is not ran like this. They are grown men, should act like grown men. Shake hands, come to a proper conclusion and get on with it. Desi people and their unlimited supply of drama ...
 
light said:
I have a good feeling that most of the players from BD won't mind travelling considering that proper security is provided. It seems to me that both board's incompetent leaders are the culprits here. We can all sit here and argue he said she said but at the end of the day, it's a business. The way both of these two boards are behaving, as if they are in kindergarden. A business is not ran like this. They are grown men, should act like grown men. Shake hands, come to a proper conclusion and get on with it. Desi people and their unlimited supply of drama ...
Click to expand...

Drama is coming for PCB. Once they ask us to compensate for not being able to play in Pak, threatens to pull their players out of BPL, cancels a series which was decided.

BCB is more than happy to shake hands. PCB needs to realize that BCB is doing rather well but touring Pakistan is not only about player security but the entire security staff. Remember, we had a coaching staff of Hatirsinghe Walsh and Samaraweera. An Indian physio and also a trainer from another country. Samaraweera knows very well about what happened last time he was in Pakistan.

BCB needs to think about the entire team.

Also it will definitely hurt BCB's ego when all other teams are invited to UAE but PCB never urge them to tour Pakistan. PCB doesn't threaten to pull out their players from other leagues like that. PCB tries to single out BCB because they feel they can bully BCB. This may have worked 5 years ago but BCB right now is in a very good condition.
 
Executioner said:
If there is enough security why not. Shakib and Tamim expressed their interest to travel to Pakistan.

But I think it's counterproductive to show the world that Pakistan is safe by having a few hundred commandos stationed everywhere.

I think arranging matches should be done only for the sake of the passionate fans who want to see the match at the stadium.

Otherwise all these PSL finals or Zimbabwe tour are not going to help. Bangladesh may or may not tour soon. But I doubt Srilanka will just because their board president said so. It depends on Lankan cricketers too.
Click to expand...

That is the need. Maybe, it looks weird to TV viewers but the players who are actually there and the supporters feel safe surrounded by army or other forces. Because they know that those commandos are there to protect them and no one can attack them in presence of them.
Examples? Celebrities like to have bodyguards with them. It may feel weird to us but they feel protected with them. High level politicians like to have full protocol with them because they feel protected with them. When Obama visited India, He sent a large number of his security guards there to feel protected.
The ICC and other boards' security specialists who were actually present at the PSL final, liked the security protocols and that is why they are playing a supporting hand in sending a World XI team in Pakistan.
 
cricketerB94 said:
It will largely depend upon World XI series. Some interesting days coming up for Pakistan Cricket. IF SLC visits Pakistan, I am seeing no reason why BD should not come to Pakistan.
Click to expand...

we don,t need BD we invited them anD they have rejected and also we have cancel the tour of bd

so we should be realistic and don,t beg other to come to pak if they are not interested
 
saeed5646 said:
we don,t need BD we invited them anD they have rejected and also we have cancel the tour of bd

so we should be realistic and don,t beg other to come to pak if they are not interested
Click to expand...

This is PCB, not a teenage girl that it will show attitude to those who are not co-operating with it and they have a good reason for it. It is about business and if they can revive international cricket with the help of BD, they should definitely invite them.
For 2-3 years, PCB will have to rely on BD and SL to revive home cricket. And in that period, if they will be able to conduct 1 or 2 full home series with BD and SL, then they will be able to invite other countries to Pakistan.
 
cricketerB94 said:
This is PCB, not a teenage girl that it will show attitude to those who are not co-operating with it and they have a good reason for it. It is about business and if they can revive international cricket with the help of BD, they should definitely invite them.
For 2-3 years, PCB will have to rely on BD and SL to revive home cricket. And in that period, if they will be able to conduct 1 or 2 full home series with BD and SL, then they will be able to invite other countries to Pakistan.
Click to expand...

it won,t happen if you insist look at the relation between both the board in last 2 years there is govt involved

like india they won,t tour due to govt
 
cricketerB94 said:
It will largely depend upon World XI series. Some interesting days coming up for Pakistan Cricket. IF SLC visits Pakistan, I am seeing no reason why BD should not come to Pakistan.
Click to expand...

Forget about Bangladesh. Unless India gives green signal to Bangladesh they will not travel under current government regime.
 
cricketerB94 said:
That is the need. Maybe, it looks weird to TV viewers but the players who are actually there and the supporters feel safe surrounded by army or other forces. Because they know that those commandos are there to protect them and no one can attack them in presence of them.
Examples? Celebrities like to have bodyguards with them. It may feel weird to us but they feel protected with them. High level politicians like to have full protocol with them because they feel protected with them. When Obama visited India, He sent a large number of his security guards there to feel protected.
The ICC and other boards' security specialists who were actually present at the PSL final, liked the security protocols and that is why they are playing a supporting hand in sending a World XI team in Pakistan.
Click to expand...

Cricketers usually get decent security almost all the time. But VIP level security or VVIP, latter which was offered to Zim and in PSL final, is discomforting. Players have no freedom and being around a few hundred commandos isn't so great. Your focus is not on cricket. On the other hand it's also quite costly.

When England toured us last year they were provided the same but it was for a scheduled tour. PSL final or Zimbabwe series were only for the sake of proving that Pakistan is safe for international cricket when there are a few hundred commandos. Or to BD as well. This time Australia touring won't have such strict security measures. It's difficult to maintain such a thing in the long run and at one point teams lose interest.

Why go through the mess instead of playing in the UAE this is what team officials and players will say.
 
Executioner said:
Cricketers usually get decent security almost all the time. But VIP level security or VVIP, latter which was offered to Zim and in PSL final, is discomforting. Players have no freedom and being around a few hundred commandos isn't so great. Your focus is not on cricket. On the other hand it's also quite costly.

When England toured us last year they were provided the same but it was for a scheduled tour. PSL final or Zimbabwe series were only for the sake of proving that Pakistan is safe for international cricket when there are a few hundred commandos. Or to BD as well. This time Australia touring won't have such strict security measures. It's difficult to maintain such a thing in the long run and at one point teams lose interest.

Why go through the mess instead of playing in the UAE this is what team officials and players will say.
Click to expand...

Actually players will feel more secure when there is a high number of security guards especially in Pakistan. They would know that no one can target them in presence of those security guards. What freedom do they want? Going to shopping malls? They will not be allowed to go there under current circumstances whether there are 100 security guards or 0. And these security guards are not entering their hotel rooms to destroy their freedom.

Don't tell me about cost. UAE is more costly for Pakistan than these security arrangements. Easy for other boards to say the last line you said. But when PCB put ground realities before ICC about cost and other things and asked for funds, ICC and some of the other cricket boards are keen to support Pakistan reviving cricket back home.
 
saeed5646 said:
it won,t happen if you insist look at the relation between both the board in last 2 years there is govt involved

like india they won,t tour due to govt
Click to expand...

Shafi said:
Forget about Bangladesh. Unless India gives green signal to Bangladesh they will not travel under current government regime.
Click to expand...

That is what I wanted to say in post #8. IF SLC visits Pakistan, I am seeing no reason why BD should not come to Pakistan.

And if BD still does not come to Pakistan, will BD supporters still support their board's stance?
 
cricketerB94 said:
Actually players will feel more secure when there is a high number of security guards especially in Pakistan. They would know that no one can target them in presence of those security guards. What freedom do they want? Going to shopping malls? They will not be allowed to go there under current circumstances whether there are 100 security guards or 0. And these security guards are not entering their hotel rooms to destroy their freedom.

Don't tell me about cost. UAE is more costly for Pakistan than these security arrangements. Easy for other boards to say the last line you said. But when PCB put ground realities before ICC about cost and other things and asked for funds, ICC and some of the other cricket boards are keen to support Pakistan reviving cricket back home.
Click to expand...



cricketerB94 said:
That is what I wanted to say in post #8. IF SLC visits Pakistan, I am seeing no reason why BD should not come to Pakistan.

And if BD still does not come to Pakistan, will BD supporters still support their board's stance?
Click to expand...

Players should atleast have some freedom and some breathing space outside the hotel room as well that was my first point

Also you tell me about "no reason for BD not coming". How about you ask Australia England South Africa West Indies to come too. Then perhaps those teams have no reason to say no. If your point is "it's different for them" then it's nothing but implying that lives of our players is less valuable.

Will we support BCB's decision? Yes if BCB has security officials who are trustworthy, they talked with the players who have shown interest. Do you know why so many English cricketers came to BD? Because they were given choice by their board to back out if they feel and also they had full faith in the security officials. If our players feel safe we fans will be okay. But yes we still don't think Pakistan is safe given the number of unwanted activities that's happens often in Pakistan, so vvip security is a must. Oh and the cost for presidential level security is about 100-120k USD per day. Just to let you know
 
Executioner said:
Players should atleast have some freedom and some breathing space outside the hotel room as well that was my first point
Click to expand...
They will have that freedom in presence of security officials. I am sure that security officials would not refuse them to do anything unless they are doing something unwanted.

Also you tell me about "no reason for BD not coming". How about you ask Australia England South Africa West Indies to come too. Then perhaps those teams have no reason to say no. If your point is "it's different for them" then it's nothing but implying that lives of our players is less valuable.
Click to expand...
Because it always starts from your own surroundings, No? And BD is the most likely team along with SL who can agree to play a full series in Pakistan. Things like this work gradually. If series against SL and BD goes well then we should definitely ask England to come here. And then other cricket boards one by one.

Will we support BCB's decision? Yes if BCB has security officials who are trustworthy, they talked with the players who have shown interest. Do you know why so many English cricketers came to BD? Because they were given choice by their board to back out if they feel and also they had full faith in the security officials. If our players feel safe we fans will be okay. But yes we still don't think Pakistan is safe given the number of unwanted activities that's happens often in Pakistan, so vvip security is a must. Oh and the cost for presidential level security is about 100-120k USD per day. Just to let you know
Click to expand...
UAE costs definitely more or equal per year in comparison to presidential level security. And PCB is rich enough to provide presidential level security to any team if that means the revival of cricket in Pakistan because they know that the revival of cricket in Pakistan worth that cost.
 
cricketerB94 said:
They will have that freedom in presence of security officials. I am sure that security officials would not refuse them to do anything unless they are doing something unwanted.


Because it always starts from your own surroundings, No? And BD is the most likely team along with SL who can agree to play a full series in Pakistan. Things like this work gradually. If series against SL and BD goes well then we should definitely ask England to come here. And then other cricket boards one by one.


UAE costs definitely more or equal per year in comparison to presidential level security. And PCB is rich enough to provide presidential level security to any team if that means the revival of cricket in Pakistan because they know that the revival of cricket in Pakistan worth that cost.
Click to expand...

Addition in third part: PCB want BD to come here in Pakistan and play under presidential level security but do not want to play with them in UAE due to cost issues.
 
BCCI can't pressurize SLCB not to make the trip, yes they can stop ACB and BCB , no question.
 
I don't think the BCCI will be too happy about this. Fully expect a decision reversal from SLC soon :)
 
Sachin136 said:
Yes, the reason no team except Zimbabwe has toured Pakistan in a decade is solely because of the BCCI.
Click to expand...

Wow BCCI is so powerful aint it.... ECB , ACB , CSA , WICB , NZC all listen BCCI and have refused to tour so SLC has no other choice right
 
Tharanga welcomes resumption of cricket in Pakistan

While Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board is considering to send its team to Pakistan, the players should only concentrate on the game and nothing else. This advice has come from Tharanga Paranvitana, one of the six victims of 2003 Lahore Test attacks.

Speaking from his home, where the 35-year-old opening batsman Paranvitana was recovering from dengue fever, he said, “it is a welcome move by our board and I support it”.

“If our team is going there the players should concentrate on cricket and forget about that fateful incident”.

On March 3, 2009, the attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team occurred when a bus carrying the players (from hotel to the ground was fired upon by 12 gunmen, near the Gaddafi Stadium. The cricketers were on their way to play the third day of the second Test. Six members of the Sri Lanka team were injured and few of them were hospitalized.

“It was more like a dream. While on our way to the ground, we heard a big sound and our bus was by four shooters. I don’t know much about the incident now, but it was like a film”. “The effects of the trauma was there for few days and it was very dramatic but sad”.

On asked, whether he would like to visit Pakistan again if the victimized players are invited to witness the matches, Tharanga Paranavitana said, “I am not too sure. I have to think about it and should consult my family first”.

“But yes, if the security is tight and experts clear the tour, the team should visit Pakistan as the fans there are deprived of good cricket”.

“Pakistan is a good side now and if the situation has improved there, it is a good sign to resume playing there”, he added.

“I think our boys have to play proper cricket. This (not playing good cricket) has not happening recently and we have hardly 2-3 senior players. They will have to guide the young players”.

http://pakobserver.net/tharanga-welcomes-resumption-cricket-pakistan/
 
Sri Lankan tour a good omen for Int’l cricket revival: Zaheer

Asian Bradman Zaheer Abbas Monday welcoming the Sri Lankan Cricket’s clearence to tour Pakistan said this was good news for a cricket loving nation and help revive international cricket.

Talking to APP, Zaheer said he has interaction with many foreign players and they are keen to play in Pakistan.

Sri Lanka’s cricket board on Monday approved a tour to Pakistan and its Cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala said after a security assessment the team had been cleared to play three Twenty20 internationals including one in Lahore.

Thilanga Sumathipala said he was keen to take his team to Pakistan as his security experts have given go-ahead signal, especially Lahore being cleared.

“We have three T20s coming up against Pakistan in September and we would like to play at least one of those games in Lahore,” Thilanga said.

Zaheer Abbas known as the Run Machine, said, “It is wonderful that a team (Sri Lanka) attacked in Lahore is keen to revive international cricket in Pakistan. It is a positive message for other foreign teams, leaving no excuse for them to play here.”

Zaheer, who had two stints as captain of the national team in 1981 and 1984, said he hoped everything goes well and Sri Lankan team’s tour would leave cherishable memories for a cricket loving nation.

Speaking about skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, Zaheer said Sarfraz has proved his mettle as a team leader and under his captaincy cricket would flourish.

Zaheer currently associated with Sports Board Punjab (SBP) said they were planning to open academies in the entire Punjab for male and female players.—APP

http://pakobserver.net/sri-lankan-tour-good-omen-intl-cricket-revival-zaheer/
 
Enigma_ said:
They are keen but won't confirm due to blackmail by .... well you know which board it is.
Click to expand...

If you are referring this to BCCI, that is just a presumption fans like to come up with. If you are referring to PCB, well that on the other hand is correct. This so called Blackmail was witnessed by pretty much everyone around the world (to point out, BCB did deserve it by letting their previous leader pull the trigger first).

But, if the SL series does go well, I would assume that BCB will also send out it's unit to PAK for atleast a couple of matches assuming the players are on board with this.
 
Good news.Hopefully it's true and the tour happens.Will be happy even if it's just T20's or ODI's.
 
Has to be one of the best news for PAK cricket, if true.
 
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