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Hosts assure additional security measures
CAPE TOWN — Zimbabwe were expected to fly to Pakistan last night for a limited-overs cricket tour.
The tour, the first in six years by a test-playing nation to Pakistan, was thrown in doubt last week when a terrorist attack on a bus killed 47 people in Karachi.
“The tour is going ahead and we leave tonight (last night),” their coach Dav Whatmore said via telephone from Harare yesterday before reconfirming his belief the tour would be successful and that security measures put in place by Pakistan will be adequate.
Zimbabwe will play two Twenty20 internationals, starting on May 22, and a three-match one-day series that begins four days later. All the matches are in Lahore.
Zimbabwe Cricket released a statement on Thursday saying a decision had been reached not to tour on the advice of the country’s supreme sports regulatory authority, the Sports Commission.
The Sports Commission cited concerns over the safety of the squad.
However, just minutes later the statement was withdrawn and Zimbabwe Cricket spokesman Lovemore Banda said discussions were still ongoing.
It is understood that concerns also emanated from the players themselves, some of who were reluctant to travel but have now been persuaded to tour after additional security measures were announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Meanwhile, cricket’s governing body said yesterday it would not send its neutral umpires for the Pakistan-Zimbabwe series after receiving a report from a security consultant, allowing the hosts to use their own officials.
Zimbabwe is set to become the first Test playing nation to tour Pakistan in six years after international cricket was suspended following a March 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said it received confirmation from Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) for the tour to play two Twenty20 (May 22 and 24) and three one-day internationals (May 26, 29 and 31) — all in Lahore.
The tourists are expected to arrive early tomorrow.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) said it would not send its umpires for the tour.
“The ICC today advised the PCB and ZC that it will not be appointing its match officials for the upcoming series. The ICC’s decision has been made after receiving a report from its security consultant,” the council said in a statement.
The PCB confirmed that it would appoint its own umpires, which may include an umpire from Zimbabwe as well.
The ICC said it decided in April that the mandatory requirement of neutral umpires for international matches would be waived due to security conditions in Pakistan should the series go ahead.
It assured that “the matches would still be considered ‘official cricket’ even though they will not be played strictly in accordance with the ICC standard playing conditions.”
No major foreign team has toured Pakistan in the last six years, forcing the national team to play all its home matches at neutral venues in United Arab Emirates.
Ticket sales for the series started on Saturday, with police conducting a dress rehearsal of the security arrangements for the tourists.
Pakistan has promised head-of-state-like security for Zimbabwe with 6,000 officers involved.
ESPNcricinfo understands that Zimbabwe’s players were made to sign indemnity forms after their country’s foreign affairs ministry advised that a visit to Pakistan would not be safe. As a result, the Sports Commission would not give permission for the tour to take place unless the players were going of their own accord, as the forms now state.
Afghanistan and Kenya have both toured Pakistan in that time, without incident.
Zimbabwe have been promised VIP security which includes armed guards, an armed vehicle escort and helicopter monitoring of their travel in Lahore, the only city they will visit.
An advance delegation of ZC officials visited Pakistan in the first week of May for a thorough explanation of the measures that had been put in place to protect the players and were satisfied with what they were shown.
Despite that, the international player body Fica said their security report revealed that the risks of touring Pakistan were “unmanageable.”
The series will be Zimbabwe’s first post the 2015 World Cup and first without Brendan Taylor in seven years. — AFP-Cricnfo
Online Reporter