Pakistan Tour Postponed

cricket Australia about to announce it.

Cricket Australia has called off Test tour of Pakistan after two
deadly bomb blasts.

Two explosions rocked downtown Lahore, killing at least 12 people and injuring several others.

Cricket Australia was under heavy pressure from its players to abandon the tour on safety and security grounds.

Under an agreement with the Pakistan Cricket Board, the tour has already been shortened to a month, and delayed until March 29.

One of today's bomb blasts was outside the city-centre Federal Investigation Agency, a police interrogation office in Lahore Model Town.

"The building is badly damaged. Fire is raging," witness Tariq Saeed said by telephone outside the building.

"Bodies are being taken out of the building. I have seen five," he said.

"A body is lying there with its lower part blown off,'' he said.

Senior city police officer Sohail Ahmed said two bombs had gone off but he had no information about casualties.

One employee of the Federal Investigation Agency said two bombs had gone off outside the building.

Television channels showed footage of a partially collapsed four-storey building and piles of blackened wreckage. It was not clear if the footage was of the investigation agency building or of nearby structures.

Police cordoned off the area while emergency workers carrying stretchers scrambled over the rubble.



Last week a twin-suicide bombing killed five people in an attack on a navy college in the city.

Pakistan has been battling Islamist militancy since joining the US-led campaign against terrorism.

While much of the violence has taken place in remote north-western regions, suicide attacks have taken place in all of Pakistan's major cities over the past year.

Well over 500 people have been killed in Pakistan this year in a campaign of suicide bombings that intensified after troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in July.


- with Reuters, AFP

How many bombs have gone off at cricket grounds?

Cricketers will live in hotels and move on roads apart from playing in cricket grounds, MB.

I just can't blame CA for calling off/postponing the tour. I just feel that it is sad for Pakistan cricket and hope that Australia can come to play at Pak when things settle down later this year or next year!

there was that gas cylinder incident when england were touring. afridi decided to put on his dancing shoes

cant really blame them though, esp since aus is in afghanistan

Chandan wrote:Cricketers will live in hotels and move on roads apart from playing in cricket grounds, MB.

Is that right?

CA didn't call off the Ashes tour in '05 when there was bombs going off in London ...

No cricket tour has ever been targeted directly for bombings...

Oh well...the IPL gets the Ozzies for an extra couple of weeks and CA saves on a month of match fees

It's a shame . . . it would be great to see Aus playing in Pakistan.

However, the bombings seem to be increasing and now seem to be targeting urban areas more than in the past.

embee wrote:CA didn't call off the Ashes tour in '05 when there was bombs going off in London ...

No cricket tour has ever been targeted directly for bombings...

Oh well...the IPL gets the Ozzies for an extra couple of weeks and CA saves on a month of match fees

Aus came very close to calling off the Ashes tour, embee, if you read any of Dizzy's comments on the affair.

The One wrote:there was that gas cylinder incident when england were touring. afridi decided to put on his dancing shoes

cant really blame them though, esp since aus is in afghanistan

Was the gas cylinder deliberate or an accident ?

embee wrote:

The One wrote:there was that gas cylinder incident when england were touring. afridi decided to put on his dancing shoes

cant really blame them though, esp since aus is in afghanistan

Was the gas cylinder deliberate or an accident ?

Accident.

tac wrote:

embee wrote:CA didn't call off the Ashes tour in '05 when there was bombs going off in London ...

No cricket tour has ever been targeted directly for bombings...

Oh well...the IPL gets the Ozzies for an extra couple of weeks and CA saves on a month of match fees

Aus came very close to calling off the Ashes tour, embee, if you read any of Dizzy's comments on the affair.

"very close" as opposed to "looking for the slightest excuse since the tour was announced" ...and have avoided playing in Pakistan for a decade(?)

embee wrote:

tac wrote:

embee wrote:CA didn't call off the Ashes tour in '05 when there was bombs going off in London ...

No cricket tour has ever been targeted directly for bombings...

Oh well...the IPL gets the Ozzies for an extra couple of weeks and CA saves on a month of match fees

Aus came very close to calling off the Ashes tour, embee, if you read any of Dizzy's comments on the affair.

"very close" as opposed to "looking for the slightest excuse since the tour was announced" ...and have avoided playing in Pakistan for a decade(?)

If you are trying to compare a one off bombing in England with what's going on in Pakistan, embee, you need some help.

Who knew it was a one off bombing?

It's a shame, the tour would produce some good cricket but would anyone go to Pakistan right now happily thinking they could do so safely?

If Pakistan guaranteed their safety, I think the Indian team would go.

It's understandable though, the political environment isn't exactly very healthy in Pak right now.

eowyn wrote:It's a shame, the tour would produce some good cricket but would anyone go to Pakistan right now happily thinking they could do so safely?

A good place for mothers-in-law?

embee wrote:Who knew it was a one off bombing?

If a couple more attacks of that magnitude had taken place during the tour I don't know that it would have continued.

More than 500 people have been killed in bomb attacks across Pakistan this year.

All Cricket Australia knows is that today's bombing in Lahore are definitely not a 'one-off'.

doremi wrote:If Pakistan guaranteed their safety, I think the Indian team would go.

It's understandable though, the political environment isn't exactly very healthy in Pak right now.

Doremi, don't you think Pakistan's security forces are spread pretty thing right now looking after it's own citizens? If they have to give blanket security to a cricket tour wouldn't that leave other areas more open to attack? I think if I was running Pakitstan's secutity forces i'd be secretly pleased the tour was off.

embee wrote:Who knew it was a one off bombing?

How many bombings had occured in the 6months prior to that bombing? How many in the last 6 months in Pakistan? Think about it.

If there had been any further trouble, you can bet that the Aussies would have come home as they were extremely worried.

At present, you can pretty much guarantee that there will be bombings in Pakistan during the month that the Aussies will be there . . . so why go?

doremi wrote:If Pakistan guaranteed their safety, I think the Indian team would go.

Under the circumstances it would be very hard to guarantee that - much like life insurance guaranteeing that you won't die.

doremi wrote:If Pakistan guaranteed their safety, I think the Indian team would go.

How many years did India boycott Pak?

taipan wrote:

doremi wrote:If Pakistan guaranteed their safety, I think the Indian team would go.

How many years did India boycott Pak?

How many years did we all boycott SA?

taipan wrote:

doremi wrote:If Pakistan guaranteed their safety, I think the Indian team would go.

How many years did India boycott Pak?

totally different reasons. safety was not it

The One wrote:

taipan wrote:

doremi wrote:If Pakistan guaranteed their safety, I think the Indian team would go.

How many years did India boycott Pak?

totally different reasons. safety was not it

No?