Australia in Pakistan

I was just citaging about Pakistan's famous Oz-dodgers in another thread, when a fit of humility came over me and it occurred to me to ask: is it not time to reverse Australia's policy of not playing in Pakistan?

Australia has not toured Pakistan for over 10 years now. England, South Africa, India, West Indies, Sri Lanka have all toured there in recent years.

A great team can win anywhere. Not one member of the current Australian squad has played in a winning test match in Pakistan.

Note that Australia's record in Pakistan is 10 draws, 7 losses, and 3 wins. Two of those wins were in 1959: the match at Rawalpindi in 1998, then, is the only instance of Australia winning a test match in Pakistan since the era of Benaud's captaincy.

Can't be good for test cricket for Pakistan's fans to have no chance to see their side take on the champions in Pakistan's home turf.

I assume that the only concern is security, specifically the risk of a terrorist attack harming players. How high is the risk, really? As I noted elsewhere, six out of the nine remaining test nations have suffered terrorist attacks. Pakistan is not alone in this regard, and it is also worth noting that cricket venues and cricketers have not been the targets of actual attacks. The perpetrators in Pakistan attempt to appeal to anti-Western sentiment but they can't imagine they will win many friends by attacking the national sport.

There'd be some risk of cricketers being hurt by an event in which cricketers were _not_ the targets, but has someone made a serious estimate of this risk? Would the risk be higher than that of dying in a plane crash in any of the several international flights that cricketers take each year, or for that matter in a road accident? Can't security be improved at (and between) venues to a suitable extent?

The 2008 tour was "postponed". The Future Tours table still shows Australia playing five ODIs in Pakistan next year but it is clear that this is not going to be scheduled.

Does Australia plan to boycott the next World Cup? Australia might be confident enough to boycott any group matches held there, but the draw could well see us required to play a quarterfinal or semifinal there.

For some reason India are also refusing to tour.

For entirely different reasons though.

That has nothing to do with security though which is unlike other teams.

So why IS India going to boycott?

In the wake of Mumbai terror attacks perpetrated from Pak, GoI has stopped Indian team to tour Pak.

OP Tipping wrote:So why IS India going to boycott?

concern over the prospect of getting sand in their vaginas, I reckon

OP Tipping wrote:So why IS India going to boycott?

the indian sports minister put it best

"Is it possible for one team to arrive in Mumbai and indulge in mass murder, and have another team go and play cricket in the winter afternoon sun at Lahore, immediately after?," he asked.

until pakistan shows some intent and takes some real action india is not going to be playing any bilateral series with them

[i]"Is it possible for one team to arrive in Mumbai and indulge in mass murder, and have another team go and play cricket in the winter afternoon sun at Lahore, immediately after?," he asked.
/i]


Unless he thinks a cricket team has indulged in mass murder, it's a pretty lame comment.

I am one Aussie against them going to Pakistan.The military took over the country once,and could again at any time.Our government has not changed their advice on travel to Pakistan.

"The military took over the country once,and could again at any time."


Another way of looking at it is that now that elections have brought a democratically elected government and civilian rule has been restored, a tour by Australia would be a suitable _reward_.

For all of their on field bravado, the Australian cricket team is a bunch of scared, $$$$ seeking cock munchers.

Compare them with Sri Lanka. They were wrong to tour Zimbabwe recently (For moral rather than security reasons), but these guys have NEVER backed down from a tour due to security reasons. They're always willing to go into a hot zone, and for that, they should be admired. How the likes of Hayden and Symonds can stand in the field and question their courage when facing the likes of Lee and Johnson is beyond me.

yeah AUS have a very poor record in PAK.

They went 40 years with out winning a single test in Pakistan.If i am not mistaken it was D Lillee who coined the phrase "graveyard for fast bowlers" while referring to the Faisalabad pitch.