Thursday, March 19, 2009

Pakistan captain fears children will abandon cricket

away from cricket in Pakistan unless something drastic is done to save the sport, national team captain Younis Khan has said.
"You will see people losing interest in cricket and youngsters no longer having cricket idols to look up to," Khan told Reuters Thursday.
Pakistani cricket is in turmoil after a series of cancellations of tours by international sides to the country due to security concerns.
Sri Lanka cancelled their tour when their bus came under attack while on its way to the ground in Lahore for the second test earlier this month. Six of the Sri Lankan team were injured while eight Pakistanis were killed in the March 3 attack.
Australia and West Indies have said they would not tour the country for security reasons while New Zealand is almost certain to postpone its tour at the end of the year.
The International Cricket Council also postponed the Champions Trophy last year for security reasons then moved it to Sri Lanka. It has subsequently been moved again to South Africa.
"The Sri Lankans were the first team in 14 months to come and play test cricket in Pakistan. That incident even left the players depressed and upset," Khan said.
"It is a gloomy situation for us with so many cancellations and postponements of test and one-day matches involving us since last year.
"I think the cricket board, our government, former and present players and other stakeholders need to sit together and come up with viable long-term proposals to keep cricket going in Pakistan."

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