A combined British Universities cricket team will play two one-day games in Pakistan next month, a tour welcomed by the hosts on Thursday as a chance to repair the country’s image abroad.
The British Universities team will be arriving in Lahore on April 2 and both the matches are day games and will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on April on 4 and 6, said a board official.
“The British team’s tour will help us create a soft image of Pakistan as all the players in the team are foreigners and will be well taken care of,” said Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s director of international cricket.
International cricket teams have refused to tour Pakistan since gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009. The team was heading to the stadium where the university side will play.
The attack killed eight people and wounded seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach. Pakistan later lost its World Cup co-hosting rights.
The British Universities team will arrive in Lahore on April 2 and play two one-day games against a Pakistan Cricket Board Under-19 team. They will be hosted by PCB and will stay in Lahore till April 8. Pakistan have invited Bangladesh to play a limited-over series next month, but the tour appears in doubt over security fears.
Those fears have forced Pakistan to play their home series on neutral venues such as England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates.
Pakistan are also planning a five-match one-day series against Australia in Sri Lanka this August. Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998.
The names of the players in the squad are: Kamal Alam (captain) General Richards XI, AAF, Durham University; Will Hodson, MCC; James Kostoris, MCC; Will Kostoris Harrow, MCC; Brendan Mckerchar, MCC Universities – Oxford University,& Scotland; Mumtaz Habib, MCC Universities; Maxwell McAclister, MCC; James Roditi Harrow, England Schools; Spencer Crawley, MCC Universities – Oxford University; Robert Gallimore, Army; Paul Razzall, MCC Universities – Oxford University; Samuel Outram, James Wallace, Shmail Khan, Eton – England Schools; Umair Javed, University of London LSE.
Lashing shows desire to visit Pakistan: Upon the positive signals transmitted by the Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the Chief of the Lashings Club, David Folb, is equally thrilled and has expressed readiness to tour Pakistan to put an end to a 3-year long international cricket drought in Pakistan.
However the chief of the club – studded with former international stars – feared that the time was running out for the PCB to make a formal move in this regard. “Invitation from the PCB will be very exciting for us. We will personally love to bring our team to Pakistan but due to our tight schedule, starting from April 24th, the PCB should initiate the formal process at the earliest”, said David Folb in a television interview. After the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, the frequent rounds of talks between the PCB and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), starting late last year, were seen as a breath of fresh air but unfortunately at this moment in time the tour is in jeopardy which prompted the PCB Chairman, Zaka Ashraf, to try out for other options which includes an invitation to an international XI.
Earlier Pakistan’s former captain, Rashid Latif has also said that he could assemble a quality world eleven team to come and play in Pakistan if the PCB was willing to bear the expenses. Responding to the offer, the PCB Chairman said that he would be glad to support Latif in his efforts to transform the idea, of brining the World XI to Pakistan, into reality.
David Folb also recalled his interactions with Latif on the Pakistan’s tour however reiterated that the shorts must be called by the PCB to make it happen. “I have had discussions with Rashid Latif on Pakistan Cricket many a times, I know he is very keen on the revival of international cricket in Pakistan, but it’s for the PCB to make a final call in this regard”, said David Folb
“I have been to Pakistan more than once and have many friends there. I will never forget the wonderful hospitality I experienced”, concludes David Folb. Lashings – the UK based club – is amongst the famous clubs in the world. A lot of former and incumbent mega stars such as Sachin Tendulkar, Murli, Brian Lara, Wasim Akram, Sir Viv Richards, Chris Harris, Allan Donald, Shoaib Akhtar, Rashid Latif, Courtney Walsh and others have represented the club.