South Africa's tour not to be affected - PCB

Cricinfo staff

July 16, 2007



South Africa have not raised any objections yet to playing in Karachi © AFP



The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has insisted that South Africa's tour to Pakistan later this year will continue despite the ongoing political crisis in the country.

South Africa are due to tour for a two-Test and five-match ODI series in September and October. According to an itinerary finalised last month, they will play matches in Karachi and Peshawar, two venues which have been regularly overlooked in the recent past due to security concerns.

However, the itinerary was finalised before the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation in Islamabad which saw the government crack down on hardline clerics, a large band of students and alleged militants who were illegally occupying government land and carrying out vigilante activities in the capital.

The operation has sparked a spate of suicide bombings, particularly in the North-West Frontier Province and the country is currently on a high state of security alert. Additionally, this may be election year in Pakistan and parts of the country have also seen widespread, albeit largely peaceful, protests against the suspension of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. In Karachi, however, there were riots related to the incident in May in which over 40 people were killed in a single day.

Security concerns, particularly in the aftermath of September 11, have forced sides to cancel tours to Pakistan but for the moment, says the PCB, there is no such problem. "As the situation currently stands, right now, there is an unqualified commitment from South Africa to tour. The tour is 100% on currently and Karachi and Peshawar are on the itinerary," said Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer, PCB.

Privately, however, board officials concede that if the situation worsens, and in particular a big city is attacked, the tour may face obstacles. One newspaper report suggests that the board will be meeting the interior ministry for assurances of fool-proof security to South African players.

The situation in Peshawar is further complicated by a match referee's report after the last international the city staged. Chris Broad told the Pakistan board after Pakistan played an ODI against India in February 2006 that the venue was not fit to host international matches. The situation, according to a PCB official, has not yet been fully resolved.

"What happens many times is that the local authorities just carry out cosmetic changes without really bettering the situation at the ground just to be passable for the match. Problems remain and it is the case with Peshawar but we just have to sort it out. We have got control of the stadium now and we will have it ready for when South Africa arrive," said one official.

A security delegation from Australia also arrives in Pakistan on Monday to undertake a quick-fire inspection of venues. Australia A is due to tour in September after which the Under-19 team will also visit. The senior team are also scheduled to visit in March-April next year, for their first tour of Pakistan in ten years. The security delegation arrives after visiting Malaysia and India for similar inspections ahead of Australian tours to those countries.

© Cricinfo

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Man I wish and hope that the tour will continue and recent events will not hinder, we need something positive and cricket seems to do that.

I also hope the there are no problems with the SA tour in Pakistan. I am tired of sport being the middle stump between the middle-leg stump of government and the off stump of the rest of politics. etc.

Exactly, well said mate!!
Insh'Allah everything will be fine before and during the tour (and Pakistan will win both the test and ODI series' )

I'm not optimistic. It's all very well the PCB saying the tour's going ahead normally, but South Africa are notoriously twitchy when it comes to 'security concerns', especially it seems when they've just been whitewashed in a test series and have some tough ODI's coming up.

They employ the kind of 'security experts' who tell them that Colombo is so terrifyingly dangerous that they have to fly home immediately to the safety of... er... Johannesburg!

Let's hope that the tour does go ahead, and that SA employ some decent 'security experts' this time.

yeah im not optimistic either. with what is going oon in pak, i wouldnt be surprised if the saffies, and aussies cancelled their tours. in fact, i wouldnt blame them too much

pakistan has bigger fish to fry if they dont want to come they can **** of, but pakistan should not tour again untill they tour , by the way there are alo bombings in Britan and they are much more random ie civilans not target bombings but every body want to look barve there

I think canceling the tours altogether is a bit hasty, but if the current situation prevails in N.W.F.P, then I don't see Peshawar hosting a match. Venues such as Karachi, Lahore, Pindi, Multan, and Faisalabad shouldn't face any problems though...

i know canceling is a bit nasty, but u have to look at it from the tourists point of view. the terrorists are targeting the security forces who will be responsible for the players' security. so it is not a good situation with a blast or two every other day.

As of now, they're targeting the influx of soldiers in the F.A.T.A. They're doing that because there was a peace agreement made which they know consider void because of the troop deployment, as well, of course, for the Lal Masjid incident. As long as the unrest continues along the border and doesn't spread to major cities (especially the ones likely to host games) then there's no reason for the cancellation of an entire tour.

There is a huge differance between something political and crime. SA does have crime problems, but doesn't have "car or suicide bombings" etc.

Tour should go fine, just as long as no-one commits hara-kiri too near the SA team.

yeah you got a valid point.

I agree.


The tours will present a bit of a dilemma however; the visiting teams will be provided an enormous amount of security meaning hundreds and hundreds of police and rangers will be posted. All that would do is provide some psycho a target for an attack. If anything happens then that's the end of international cricket in Pakistan for a long, long, long, long, long, time.

Its truly a sad thing when you, as a fan, have your fingers perpetually crossed that the tour will not be faced with any security problems.

bigger fish to fry? u mean australia? i woudnt be suprised if the way things are going on pakistan continue, aus would probably cancel tour without hesitation

I dont mean cricket. Dude People are dying in bomb balst how gives a rats ass about a cricket match

I've watched cricket in both South Africa and Pakistan, and I know which country I felt safer in. Certainly not South Africa, that's for sure!

The South African players face a far greater security risk on a daily basis at home than they ever will in Pakistan. The fact that the security risk at home tends to come from armed criminals rather than terrorists doesn't diminish that risk in the slightest.

The truth is that if you go to Pakistan, there's a very small risk of you falling victim to or witnessing some kind of terrorist atrocity. If you go to South Africa, on the other hand, there is a very real, very high, and ever-present risk that you'll be a victim of serious crime. If South Africa do tour, they'll definitely be safer in Pakistan than they would be at home.

Unfortunately I think that whether or not they do tour will depend on what their 'security experts' say, which is why I'm not optimistic.

Everyone has their own views. I live in Johannesburg and have never been mugged, or robbed, or hijacked, or had a gun pointed at me, or been in an attempted stabbing, etc. etc. Only had petty crime incidents (bicycle stolen out of my shed and some minor burglaries).

Let me see, Bob Woolmer thought SA was a safe place for his family, so I'll follow his idea as well .....

The media plays a very big role in this as well. For example JAF, you say that Jo'berg is a safe place to be, but if you look at news reports, you hear lots of things about drugs, crime ect, the media make it seem like a very dangerous place to be, and that’s what we'll probably see more of with Pakistan, and especially Islamabad (with it being our capital city, they'll say if it can happen so easily here, then imagine other cities), and that’s the thing we've got to be prepared for. For any team, it'll just take 1 little report, to 'back up' their view, and then it’s all over unfortunately

Islamabad is the safest place in pak, and now there was a blast there too. like i said, i wont be surprised if the tours are cancelled

I agree. The media makes a countries image and we all have our own individual comfort zones. Maybe I am too used to certain things happening occasionally in SA, but they aren't the norm. Anyway, at my age, I take medication cocktails to live, not drugs!

Over here in SA, the media hasn't made an issue out of anything happening in Pakistan. I'm holding thumbs for a tour.

Two Tests and five ODIS?

Pathetic as usual! Why do we not play more test matches!

Thanks for the support man. Its not looking good though. This country is at a crossroads. The pot has been bubbling for a while and its now beginning to spill over.

Simple: Money.


The masses in Pakistan watch Odi's. Very few people have the patience for tests. If the tour actually happens then you'll see me watching every session of every day in Karachi. Look out for the guy with short hair, dark glasses, and a newspaper! I'll probably be in the Javed Miandad stand!

Bob also lived most of last 3 to 4 years in Pakistan. And he didnt even get his bike stolen. Saffies should realize that.

We do. But on the other hand, in South Africa we are not going through a political crisis like Pakistan or is someone telling me "I am reading propoganda"?

I have now read the reports in the media i.e. raid on Islamabad's Red Mosque last week, declaration of jihad against the Pakistan government, numerous suicide bombings, explosion in Islamabad.

I would rather have my bike stolen, than lose my life to terrorism.

Anyway, things are still quiet on the cricket side and the tour will go ahead.

Yeah I hope the tour goes ahead cuz our new stadium by the Red mosque is now ready to host South Africa's games. We were also going to appoint Graeme Smith the mayor of Islamabad, Kallis the governor of Sindh, Gibbs the chairman of anti-corruption department so they can become the part of Pak government that the 'jihad' is declared against. And since suicide bombers have nothing better to do than target the most boring batsman in the world and the rest of the chokers, SA team will be given complete protection by a team from Choka Cola Inc.

Gibbs would love the idea of being chairman of anti-corruption department and being paid by all those bookies and international cricketers!

Nicky Boje would probably wanna come too!!

This report really doesn't say anything and we don't know how situation will be 2 months from now. All it says no objections "yet". Peshawar is one of the veneus too.

Now if someone was to decide with what is happening now - PCB themselves should cancel the tour and not wait for SA to say it. don't take chances