Pakistan fans are hurting - By Mushtaq Ahmed

[sully3]

THIS summer has seen a cricket first, with Pakistan's home series against Australia played on British soil.

After a difficult start in the opening test match against Australia, where some high quality swing bowling was undermined by poor fielding and erratic batting, I was impressed with the resolve showed by the team to record their first Test win against Australia in 15 years in the second Spirit of Cricket Test at Headingley.

While the on-field performances of Pakistan have been mixed, what we mustn't forget is why the team has been forced to use England as their foster home.

As many fans remember only too well, March 2009 saw cricket's darkest day as terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team buses in Lahore.
Seven people were killed and eight were injured. I too was in Lahore that day. The city is my home town and I know those streets well. It angers me that as a result of these attacks, Pakistan cannot play on home soil anymore to protect the safety of teams.

The Pakistani community has well and truly felt the impact of terrorism by being forced to switch to neutral venues.
Pakistanis love their cricket and I know how much it will be hurting the team that they can't play in front of their own fans.
The supporters will be equally disappointed that they cannot see their heroes play on home soil.

But now the world of cricket is fighting back and a campaign called Not In My Game has launched to help bring cricket safely back to Pakistan.
The Not In My Game campaign will give people who love cricket the platform to make their voices heard and stand up to the small minority of people who have placed our game under siege.

International cricket stars from past and present including myself, Owais Shah and Shaun Udal are urging sports fans across the world to take a stand with us, against terrorism in cricket.
Playing cricket has always been one of the most important things in my life and I am fighting for Pakistan cricket to be able to go back home, for the
peace and stability of the region.

Many people across the world are united by the love of cricket, irrespective of their faith or background.
An atrocity like the one which took place in Lahore has a terrible impact on the game we love. It affects everyone and everything — players, fans and morale. Of course, we all know that cricket is not the only sport to have been targeted by terrorists.

This is not the first time security threats have threatened the sports we love. In 2008, the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League in India was cancelled after the Mumbai attack.
And just this year, gunmen opened fire on the Togo national football squad in Angola whilst they were travelling to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Not In My Game is about joining together to send a loud, clear message that there is no place for terrorism in sport.
We must do everything we can to ensure that cricket continues to thrive, be it as a game of street cricket or an international Test match.
I hope visiting teams can get that confidence to travel again and go back to playing cricket in Pakistan.




Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz0x5kPzMSg

[sully3]

Mushtaq Ahmed is a spokesperson for Not In My Game — a campaign which sends out a clear message; terrorism has no place in sport. Supporting the campaign is as simple as visiting www.notinmygame.co.uk, texting PLEDGE to 80010 or finding the campaign on Facebook.

[Fawad2010]

good on him to support the cause.

now stop giving Swann our Spin secrets!

[hashbb]

Originally Posted by Fawad2010 good on him to support the cause. now stop giving Swann our Spin secrets!

[jeetu]

Mushtaq Ahmed was pretty average bowler after first few years. He played just 50 odd test and retired with less than 200 wickets. So i doubt he has much secrets to give.

[Amoeba]

There is Ghost writing and then there is a complete re-hash amityville style. I have no doubt that the article echos Musy's sentiments but there is absolutely no chance that he actually sat down and wrote this - given his command of English!

[hur rizvi]

Originally Posted by jeetu Mushtaq Ahmed was pretty average bowler after first few years. He played just 50 odd test and retired with less than 200 wickets. So i doubt he has much secrets to give.

Mushtaq was never an average bowler ... but it was the brilliance of saqlain that resulted in an early end of his career .... he was a top class bowler but saqlain was just way too brilliant for first 4-5 years of his career

[Cpt. Rishwat]

The country is underwater and Mushtaq Ahmed is bleating about terrorism in a pro-war tabloid. Nice timing.