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Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
CONTINUING terror attacks in Pakistan have all but ended Zimbabwe’s hopes of becoming the first International Cricket Council full member to tour the Asian nation in six years. Zimbabwe were to be the first top cricket playing team to play in the Asian country after the Sri Lanka team was attacked by gunmen on tour in 2009 in Lahore.
The country’s supreme sports body — the Sports and Recreation Commission — have not cleared Zimbabwe Cricket to embark on the tour based on security information received that it is unsafe for the national team to tour Pakistan.
“We have consulted on the security situation in Pakistan with particular reference to your intended cricket tour of the country and have been advised that it would not be safe for the team to travel to Pakistan at this point in time,” wrote SRC director-general Charles Nhemachena to ZC chief executive officer Wilfred Mukondiwa.
The ZC board and executive were last night engaged in discussions and it was not clear whether the national team would travel or not.
Indications were that the ZC had cancelled the trip but the organisation’s spokesperson Lovemore Banda said a decision is yet to be made.
The national team is supposed to leave on Sunday and return on June 1.
“Air tickets for the trip to Pakistan have been secured but the board is still deliberating on the security report to determine whether the team goes or not. That decision will be made once they are done debating the issue,” Banda said.
Zimbabwe are scheduled to play two Twenty20 matches and three One Day Internationals in Lahore, which is about 1,300km from Karachi.
Following fresh terror attacks which killed at least 43 people in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Wednesday, questions have been raised about Zimbabwe Cricket’s safety during the tour.
According to online reports, Jundullah, a militant group that targets Shiites and also a main branch of the Pakistani Taliban led by Mullah Fazlullah as well as the Islamic State in Khorasan, ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, claimed that they were responsible for Karachi attack.
With the SRC declining to bless the national team’s Pakistan tour, the decision now lies with its board which will have to take full responsibility should anything happen to the squad.
Last week the Pakistan Cricket Board promised heightened security for Zimbabwe’s players and have shared the details of their protection plan with the ICC.
The PCB hosted an advance delegation from Zimbabwe, which included managing director Alistair Campbell, who was shown the accommodation, transport and other logistics being put in place for Zimbabwe’s visit.
It is Campbell’s report that the ZC board is deliberating on.
During his assessment of the conditions in Pakistan, Campbell had expressed confidence in the tour taking place as planned.
“The cricket in this country had to resume from somewhere and the forthcoming series would provide the opportunity. I thank the PCB and the security agencies for all the security measures that have been put in place and we’re looking forward to have an exciting series in two weeks’ time,” Campbell was quoted as saying.
Online Reporter