Zaka Ashraf feels that the British University Charity XI visit to Pakistan sends a strong message to the world that Pakistan is a safe country to visit for foreign teams. Speaking at a special event to mark the end of the tour, he expressed his gratitude to the visitors and hoped for revival of International cricket in Pakistan

By Amir Husain (7th April, 2012)

International cricket was abandoned in Pakistan on the 3rd of March, 2009. This was the fateful day in Lahore when gunmen targeted the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team resulting in injuries and fatalities causing the tour to be cancelled. International teams have since refused all tours of Pakistan with the country playing all its “home” games on neutral territory such as England and the UAE.

Whereas there is little movement in the stance of the ICC who consider the decision to tour Pakistan as a matter for the respective boards to decide, there seems to be a growing undercurrent of feeling that International cricket must resume in Pakistan to allow cricket to flourish in the country. Furthermore, due to the recent successes of its team in “home” series, it has been deemed important that a country of Pakistan’s rich cricketing history is not treated as a pariah of the international cricketing community.

In addition, there have been some positive noises made by officials and observers of the game – most notable being the proposed tour by the Bangladesh cricket team. However, the all important issue of security for visiting teams is proving to be a major hurdle to this objective.

It is in this context that the decision by a foreign team, consisting of British University students supporting a charity which promotes education in Pakistan and Afghanistan, to visit Pakistan in a direct contravention of UK Foreign advice can only be termed as commendable and an act of nobility, akin with the goals of the charity they are proud to represent.

The team which was lead by a Durham University student, Kemal Alam, landed on the shores of Pakistan in early April and played 2 exhibition matches against the PCB Under 19 squad on the 4th and 6th of April. Both games were played, almost as in a symbolic gesture towards the International community, at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore – the venue of the last ill fated International Cricket game against Sri Lanka in Pakistan.

The two games may not have been a match-up of equals in terms of team strength or have been the spectacle that cricket lovers in Pakistan felt they were starved off in recent times, but what the games achieved in terms of dispelling perception of Pakistan as unsafe place to tour is immeasurable. For the first time in 3 years, the denizens of the historic city of Lahore came to their beloved Gaddafi Stadium and watched a foreign team play cricket on Pakistani soil.

In exclusive remarks to PakPassion.net on arrival in Pakistan, the universities captain Kemal Alam had spoken of his high hopes to put an end to notions of insecurity in Pakistan for visiting teams and a proud Alam and his colleagues will leave Pakistan with their heads held high as they have shown courage and strength of character to see this tour to its completion.

With the tour matches out of the way and termed as successes for all concerned, Kemal Alam and his team were feted by the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mr. Zaka Ashraf. At a specially organized ceremony at the National Cricket Academy, members of the British team were presented with mementos of their visit in appreciation for their effort.

Kemal in his remarks to the media reiterated the objectives of his visit and expressed his happiness at being part of an effort which should go a long way in the revival of International cricket in Pakistan.

“It has been a great tour and most importantly its great work for our charity (Afghan Appeal Fund) – We feel that it bridges the gap between Pakistan and England and shows that Pakistan is safe for cricket. That’s what we came here for. Although we haven’t won any matches, we have definitely won a few hearts and minds and PCB has shown to us that being an English team, Pakistan is absolutely safe for international cricket.”

Whilst the attention of the world may have been focused on issues related to cricket and security, Kemal was also of the opinion that in the final analysis, it was the people of Pakistan that deserved praise for keeping the cricketing flame alive.

“In my view, more important than the security aspect is the love of the people – whether it’s the staff at the NCA or the Punjab Police (Elite Force) or the people at the Gaddafi stadium who have been organizing the nets or the matches. It has been a great tour, we had good evenings eating out - if you ask most of the players, they have been very happy. However, above all, the most important thing they realize is how much cricket means to the people of Pakistan. People have turned out in numbers to watch a British Charity XI and after yesterday’s game, we have people coming to thank us which shows how much cricket means to Pakistan.”

The tour now complete, Kemal felt that it was time that the International community sat up and took notice of the positive developments in Pakistan which have made it safe for touring teams and he felt that his team’s mission to draw attention to this matter did not end with this tour.

“I think the international community should realize that and that’s the message we will take to the ICC and the MCC. We will be asking the MCC chairman, Phillip Hodson, about his statement of a MCC tour to Afghanistan - we will probably urge him to send an official MCC tour to Pakistan as well. We would like to thank Pakistan for their hospitality by helping as much as we can through our charity and our contacts whose patron is Sir David Richards (Gen Chief of Defence staff). This is not just us coming over and having a good time and going back – we will try our level best at the University, MCC and the ECB levels to give something back to yje PCB which is the gift of return of International cricket.”

On his part, the Chairman of the PCB, Mr. Zaka Ashraf also thanked the visitors and declared that this tour was a signal to the rest of the world that it was time to end the drought of cricket imposed on Pakistan due to some unfortunate events of the past. He also echoed Kemal’s feelings about Pakistani's love for the game and hoped that their visit would open the gates for future visits by national teams.

“The feedback from the people of Lahore is great as you must have witnessed from the match – they were cheering their own Under 19 team but also our brothers from Britain. So I think that this is a message to the rest of the world that Pakistan is a safe country – it’s a country that is in a position to have international cricket on its soil.”

“Your coming here is also welcome from that perspective as this will give a clear message to the rest of the world that not only is it safe but Pakistani fans are also welcoming foreign teams here - Pakistanis are great fans of cricket they love cricket – cricket is next to religion here! The people of Pakistan deserve credit for holding on to something they have been starved off. The way they were cheering and welcoming you shows their feelings inside their hearts – you have broken the barrier and essentially broken the ice for the revival of cricket in Pakistan!”

Mr. Ashraf presented each of the Universities team members with mementos of their visit to the country and thanked them individually for their help with emotive words that are sure to find new friends for Pakistani cricket.

“We would like to congratulate you, your management and all those who supported us and made this visit a success for their support of Pakistani cricket. We look forward to more visits like these – also want to thank the captain Kemal Alam for his feelings from the heart which will find resonance with those of people of Pakistan. Your message would be very clear to those who say that Pakistan is not a safe country. We hope we can make it an annual event and we would still like to welcome you – the more you come – the more you feel the warmth and hospitality of the people. Your presence here has reminded the people of Lahore of the great stars from your country who have played on the same ground. You have represented England as true ambassadors of a great nation who have brought message of peace to Pakistan”