UAE player says 'game is dying' in Pakistan

DUBAI // Pakistan cricket is dying because of the reluctance of the top nations to tour there, according to one of the UAE's top players, the Pakistani expatriate Arshad Ali. The UAE's cricketers were among the most recent players to travel to Pakistan, when they played at the Asia Cup in Lahore at the end of June. The tournament was seen as a dress rehearsal for the Champions Trophy.

It passed off without incident, and was monitored by two independent teams of security consultants, who subsequently reported "excellent" safety measures were in place. However, five of the eight nations participating in the Champions Trophy were not convinced by the reports, which led the ICC to postpone the event. Pakistan's civil unrest has accounted for a number of big series in the past. Pakistan fans have not seen their side in action in a home Test match since last October and the UAE's premier all-rounder Arshad believes the game is suffering as a result.

"Pakistan is one of the most cricket-mad nations in the world, but the game is dying," said Arshad, who was born in the Punjab city of Sialkot. "Teams need to tour there again to save the game. Pakistan cricket is losing out. How many months is it since they last played Test cricket there? "If no one will go there the team won't get any exposure, sponsors will not put up any money, and everyone will lose interest.

"There is fighting going on near the Afghanistan border, in the Peshawar area, but that is so far away from where the matches would have taken place. "But because they see that, people believe it effects the whole of Pakistan. That is not the case, and the Pakistan Cricket Board try to stage all the matches in the Punjab area anyway. "When we played at the Asia Cup, we had a lovely time. There was so much security that we felt comfortable. We really enjoyed it," Arshad said.

Delaying the tournament does not necessarily solve a long-standing problem, which concerns the unwillingness of certain nations to tour the troubled nation. Australia have not toured since 1998, and postponed a scheduled series earlier this year on safety grounds. Unless the security situation improves dramatically over the next year, their stance is unlikely to change. They are also locked in to an agreement to play a one-day series in India at the new proposed date in Oct 2009. Given that it is arguably the biggest bilateral series in cricket, that is likely to hold sway over the ICC's event.

@Email:pradley@thenational.ae