No Australia. Champions Trophy next?

What most of us suspected has now been confirmed, and though the official line from the two boards says that the series has only been postponed, it's hard to see Australia touring Pakistan before 2010. The itinerary is packed for the rest of this year, and 2009 has an Ashes series as its centrepiece. With the Pakistan Cricket Board not amenable to hosting the series at a neutral venue, it's hard to see where the matches will be fitted in if they're not played now.

Any hope that Pakistan had of the series going ahead disappeared with two bomb attacks in Lahore just hours before Cricket Australia were to make their decision. As long as the trouble was in the north-west frontier or in Karachi, there was a slim hope that the tour could go ahead, with matches played in and around Lahore. But with 21 people dying in the latest attacks, there was no way even an abbreviated series could have started on March 29.

The PCB reaction was one of extreme disappointment, but there were no harsh words. Those came instead from an Australian, Geoff Lawson, now coach of the Pakistan side. "I don't think they [Australia] are justified in postponing the series," he said. "I am living in Pakistan and feel secure.

"I am disappointed, although it was expected. It is a shame that we are not playing Australia at a time when they are beatable."

That last remark will certainly raise the heckles in Australia, especially coming from one of their own. While Australia did look jaded at times towards the end of the CB Series, the bare facts state that Pakistan haven't won a Test match against them in over a decade. The last nine Tests have all been won by Australia, most of them at a canter. Only at Hobart in 1999 - Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer the heroes - and Colombo in 2002 did they even have to break sweat.

"Bombs do go off," Lawson added. "You can't argue with that. But they're focused on particular targets that have nothing to do with sport, and particularly nothing to do with cricket."

Pakistan commentators have also been dismayed by a decision that leaves them with no Test cricket to look forward to for months. A five-match one-day series against Bangladesh has been mooted, but it's hard to see the crowds flocking in to see Mohammad Ashraful and friends.

It also makes you wonder what will happen to the Champions Trophy, slated to be hosted by Pakistan in October. Will it go ahead if Australian and English players refuse to play? Will a tournament have any meaning at all if the Australians are missing? Or will the ICC choose to safeguard its commercial interests and switch the event to South Africa?

"While Dr Ashraf and Co will state how powerless they are in the face of Cricket Australia's irrational decision, the decline of Pakistan cricket over this decade, both in performance and as spectacle, are contributory factors," wrote Kamran Abbasi on Cricinfo. "The PCB, through a combination of poor judgment and dubious ethics, has turned Pakistan cricket and the international team into something of a sideshow on the international stage."

There's no arguing with that statement. Pakistan were never going to compete with India in the financial stakes, but for two decades they were certainly a superior force on the field. But the decline in the new millennium has been so inexorable that they have stumbled behind both India and sri Lanka in the subcontinent's pecking order. A generation of players - and the high-profile ones will know who they are - who have treated the dark green cap with scant respect have a lot to answer for, especially to the fans who must be so crestfallen today.

Comments

[Steve]

Robert,

there is a big diff between the England bombing and the Pakistan ones. One, if you're based in a country when if happens, then its a different scenario to deciding to put yourself into a potential situation, when you don't need to.

Second, One bomb went off in England, as opposed to months of bombings and instability in Pakistan. England has better security and can deal with the situation better. In Pakistan, it's obviously out of control of the government.

Having read Peter Roebuck on what the security would've been like if they had gone, see

http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/insecurity-is-the-only-outcome/2008/03/11/1205125911212.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

It didn't sound ideal for spectators or the teams. But I still think some of the players have an attitude problem about.

[Luke]

C'mon Pakistan is not safe for anyone at the moment.

Especially high profile white sportsmen.

[Robert]

Weren't the Aussie team in London when the tube bombs went off? I don't recall them hurrying home then.

[The Pav]

I am also disappointed the tour won't be going ahead but fully support the decision.

The last round of bombings in Lahore certainly are adequate justification.

I believe it was a police station that was bombed. If they can't protect that then what can they proptect?

Lawson can say he feels safe but firstly one person is a far different target compared to a whole team and secondly it is his choice to be there.

There are risks & there are risks and just because terrorists haven't hit a sports ground doesn't mean they won't. Eventually the politacl imapct of such a target will be irresistable

[Steve]

Like Lawson, I'm disappointed and annoyed the Australians are not going to Pakistan. Yes, two bombs went off yesterday in Lahore, and there is potential for trouble, but I don't think CA tried hard enough to really go. Australia A were there late last year and had no trouble but this time the players' reps. didn't even go there themselves to check it out, and the team are too easily pleased that it was cancelled.

I can also understand that Lawson is personally upset, since he would have been looking forward to the visit by his countrymen. And it looks bad, too, with the IPl just round the corner.

I reckon the CA should cancel the India tour later this year and go to Pakistan instead, citing prior commitments to the BCCI. After all, the Australian team are certain to have far more trouble from the Indian poplulation than they are from terrorists in Pakistan!

[Atul Bedade's Ghost]

Dileep, to be fair, the Pakistani team's performance never really had much to do with the health of their cricket board. Or with their coach for that matter.