Pakistan tours still no closer to green light after visit of World XI

By Richard Edwards

The head of the international players association (FICA) has warned that the return of international tours to Pakistan could still be some way off – despite the success of the recent Presidents Cup.

The three-match T20 series between Pakistan and a World XI in Lahore, was seen as the clearest indication yet of international cricket’s hastening return to the country following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009.

But FICA chief, Tony Irish, tells The Cricket Paper that every future tour to the country would have to be considered on an individual basis, according to the security advice available.

The stance is consistent with FICA’s approach over the past eight years and one the World XI tour has done little to alter.

That said, Irish does concede that the measures taken to manage safety in Lahore mean that the city is considered safer now than it has been for a long period of time.

“You can’t deal with it on a general basis, it’s still very specific,” he says. “It’s all about the security advice we get. It’s all about whether our expert security consultants say that the risk is manageable.

“The risk remains high but in Lahore at the moment, given the ‘safe city’ concept and given the event that has been taking place in the past few days, the advice we received from our security consultants was that it was high risk but manageable.

“If there’s a robust security plan and if that security plan is implemented thoroughly, then it’s a manageable situation.

“If there were to be future tours there, though, the assessment would have to be based on the fact that this series has taken place within this ‘safe city’ area. Our position is that any tour would have to be assessed on an individual basis according to where the tour is going to be.”

All of which suggests that while Lahore is becoming increasingly reintegrated into the world cricket calendar, touring sides are, for the moment at least, unlikely to receive favourable security advice if a country-wide trip was proposed.

Sri Lanka are rumoured to be considering playing one of their three T20 internationals against Pakistan in Lahore in October. The West Indies, meanwhile, are also said to be preparing for a three-match T20 tour of the country in November.

Irish confirmed that neither of these plans were set in stone.

“When you send a country there you have to take into account the individual needs of each member of that touring side,” he says. “Some players have different appetites for risk.

“Certainly, Lahore seems to be a place that would be suited to these games but, again, it’s entirely dependent on the security advice.

“We would have to look at the advice according to which team is visiting the country. We would have to go through the whole process again every time there was a proposed tour – or element of a tour – involving travel to Pakistan.”