With terrorism hijacking cricket in Asia, questions are now being asked of the sport’s future worldwide.
The deadly attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers’ bus last Tuesday has changed the sport forever. Seeing the bloodied corpses of half-a-dozen policemen was shocking, but a regular sight on news footage from that part of the world. But the sight of bandaged and stretchered sportsmen was perhaps more shocking still. The names, let alone the faces, of Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paravitarana are known to only a handful in this country. But picture instead Peter Stringer and Damien Duff being carried, bullet-ridden, into ambulances and you have an inkling of how shocking this was to the average sports fan in south Asia.
And remember, in that region there is only cricket.
The game gives the peoples of these former British colonies a platform they struggle for in all other sports. India and Pakistan have slipped from their heyday in hockey and squash, while the world game of football has barely registered here. Of course, for many people in those lands, finding food and shelter occupies all their time and energy, and sport has been confined in many areas to middle and upper classes.
Despite this, the Asian nations have taken great leaps forward over the last 30 years and India (1983), Pakistan (1992) and Sri Lanka (1996) have all won the cricket World Cup. Some of the biggest stars in the game have emerged from Asia too, notably Sachin Tendulkar and Imran Khan.
As the Australian empire goes into inevitable decline, India are best placed to take over long-term as king-pins. The Indian economy has boomed in recent years and it is now estimated that it generates two-thirds of cricket’s global income through massive TV deals. Big games can attract 80 per cent of Indian TV audiences. And power inevitably follows money – a fact that has been hard to swallow at times for the old guard of England and Australia. Until 1993 those countries had a veto over ICC decisions, but since then India has rapidly become the most powerful.
So, although Pakistan can now look forward to a long period playing only away games, India’s power and money will ensure that it continues to play a central role, especially when it comes to hosting the big ICC events.
The biggest of all is the ICC World Cup, which is due to be shared by all four Asian nations in early 2011. Trent Johnston captained Ireland to a famous win over Pakistan at the last World Cup and is in training for next month’s qualifying tournament for 2011. “I’d have grave doubts about playing in Pakistan but CricketIreland will consult with the ICC and I’m sure they’ll treat player safety as paramount,” he said this weekend. “The players will have to decide for themselves but we’ll be guided. The World Cup is still two years away and a lot can happen, but wherever its held, security surrounding players and officials will have to be increased tenfold from what it was in the West Indies.”
Arguably the whole region is in no state to host sporting events. The attacks on Mumbai caused England to temporarily abort their tour in December, while last week’s mutinous massacre in Dhaka shows Bangladesh is far from a stable democracy. Sri Lanka’s war against the Tamil Tigers is still raging, albeit approaching endgame.Bangladesh have cancelled the Pakistanis tour, due to start next week, and the spotlight is now on the Indian Premier League (IPL) which is due to start later this month. Since it started two years ago IPL has earned the Indian board $900m in TV rights. England stars Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, set to earn $1m for three weeks work, will be weighing risk-v-reward stats this weekend.
The destablilisation of the region in recent years has fuelled the rise of Islamic militancy, and the reassurances of Imran Khan that cricketers would be safe because they are treated like gods is anathema to al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba. To them cricket is a western, decadent pursuit and its biggest stars now are targets. In a land where militants now blow up girls’ schools, one fears for the likes of Sajjida Shah, the Pakistani schoolgirl who made her test debut aged 14 in Dublin seven years ago and is now one of best bowlers in the world.
It is not just that the Lahore attack took place that frightens players and potential visitors, but the circumstances that surrounded it. For three days the buses carrying both teams traveled together, but on the fateful day the Pakistani bus was delayed by five minutes, fuelling conspiracy theories but also genuine concern. Several witnesses noted a reduced security detail and two match officials were scathing that the police guards fled once the firing started. “They promised us presidential-style security but it wasn’t there when we needed it”, said referee Chris Broad.Of course, presidential-style security is no guarantee of anything in a country when presidential candidates are assassinated.
It certainly increases the need for greater security anywhere crowds gather for sport. Islamic militants have struck far from home and the ICC have begun reviewing plans for the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June, an event Ireland will take part in.All week it has been noted that this was the first attack on sporting figures since the Munich Olympics, although there were few bigger superstars in 1980s Irish sport than Shergar, butchered by the IRA. Sport in this country was not inured from the dirty wars: Bellaghy GAA lost Seán Browne and many clubs such as Distillery FC and Downpatrick CC lost their clubhouses to those who saw sport as a vehicle for particular hatreds.
Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara is the most erudite of international cricketers. With a law degree under his belt, he reads James Joyce for fun. His blog posted hours after the attack asserted how keen he’d been to play in Pakistan, but concluded “our families will never feel the same about us leaving to play in Pakistan”.It spells serious trouble for a sport when blood is regularly spilled on the streets of half its top nations.
Should it prove impossible for Pakistan to host visiting teams for several years it must raise questions over the game’s future there, although the political fate of that nation may prove even more damaging.
Copyright: Cover Point
