LAHORE – The security situation in the country continues to hit Pakistan cricket badly, with plans to launch a premier league and invite Sri Lanka to play in a series later this year being put on hold. Officials in the PCB have confirmed that in recent meetings in Sri Lanka, other boards had made it clear that their players were reluctant to travel to the crisis-torn country for the Pakistan Premier League (PPL) Twenty20 competition because of security fears.
“Sri Lankan authorities have also conveyed that they would prefer if the Future Tours Programme series scheduled later this year in Pakistan was held at neutral venues like Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” an official said. It has also been learnt that the Sri Lankan government wants the forthcoming series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka be played in Sri Lanka and not in Pakistan. “Sri Lanka Cricket wanted to fulfill its FTP [Future Tours Programme] commitment with Pakistan by playing the October-November 2011 series in Sri Lanka,” an official revealed. The teams are to play three Tests and five One-day Internationals.
The Sri Lankan Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who only yesterday called Sri Lankan cricketers back from the IPL, made it clear that he wanted the PCB home series to be played in Sri Lanka. Another Sri Lankan official D.S. de Silva stated: “We want this series be played either in Sri Lanka or at the neutral venue at Dubai or Abu Dhabi”.
But the PCB was optimistic about Sri Lanka agreeing to at least play some limited overs games in Pakistan and the remaining matches, including Tests, in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Sri Lankan board officials had, during the World Cup, made some positive statements but at the same time, made it clear that the final decision would rest with their government.
“The position now is that even the Sri Lankan authorities are not very keen to send their players to Pakistan as the memories of the horrifying attack on their team are still fresh in the minds of the Sri Lankan people,” a source said. Since the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team, foreign teams have refused to play in Pakistan and the ICC too shifted the World Cup matches from the country due to security concerns.
An official of the board confirmed that discussions regarding the proposed Pakistan Premier League and the FTP series were put on hold. “Recently when we spoke to officials of other boards and even few players, the message was that the time was not right for anyone to be willing to come and play the PPL in Pakistan.”
