The Demise Of The Champions Trophy

PAKISTAN is a heavily indebted country, it endures a 40 per cent illiteracy rate that sits alongside the remains of bonded labour, is racked with corruption and, although far from having no tradition of democracy, has been ruled longer by the military than civilian government.

Its secret service, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), played a major role in creating the Taliban, have trained and fought alongside Islamic fundamentalists in Kashmir and stand accused of involvement in the bomb attack on India's embassy in Kabul last month, which left 58 dead.

Pakistan's cricketing structure is rife with nepotism and its board is influenced by regional factions and national government interference. Corruption is rife and I haven't even space to talk about match-fixing.

The British Foreign Office has argued that travel to Pakistan should be only for essential reasons. Considering the arguments against Zimbabwe, it is surprising that there have not been calls for Pakistan's exclusion from international cricket.

It is also the venue for the Champions Trophy, the biennial shortened version of the 50-overs World Cup, which is supposedly international cricket's second most prestigious competition.

However, the event is in doubt due to the concerns of players and officials from certain countries and the ever-threatening presence of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, has expressed doubts on safety grounds about staging the competition in Pakistan.

He is supported by representatives from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand after a spate of bombings last month in Karachi, one of three cities scheduled to stage matches during the 18-day competition.

The boards are supported by the players' representatives. Tony Irish, the CEO of the South African Cricketers' Association, for example, said: "The South African team are very disappointed with the decision and remain extremely concerned about safety and security in Pakistan."

In contrast, Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, said that the decision was "correct, keeping in mind that there should be unity in cricket," and he insisted that Pakistan is a "safe country to play cricket in." Five Asian Cup games - against a range of opponents - were staged in Karachi in the last month.

The question has to be, just where is it safe to play cricket?

Eight bomb blasts rocked the Indian city of Bangalore last week and seven went off in Jaipur earlier this year. Sixteen bomb blasts recently hit Ahmedabad, where England play their first Test against India this December.

In addition, it seemed OK for New Zealand to tour England when terrorist attacks were deemed by the Home Office to be "highly likely," just as it was when Australia continued to play in London as bombs went off in 2005.

Many of those who express doubts about playing in Pakistan will no doubt be happy to continue earning big money playing in the IPL.

Three days following the bomb blast at Jaipur which killed 80 people, the Rajasthan Royals beat Bangalore at the Sawai Mansingh stadium. Contestants included Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis of South Africa and Shane Watson and Cameron White of Australia.

The ICC has also indicated its displeasure over the conduct of the Twenty20 Champions League immediately after the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in September.

The scheduling of an international event within seven days of an ICC tournament is contrary to ICC rules.

The Indian board, whose competition starts a day after the final of the Champions trophy, said that the ruling applies to international rather than domestic tournaments.

As there has never been an international domestic tournament before, it is a moot point, though it will help to drive the nail into an unpopular Champions Trophy.

Pakistan has urged unity as they seek international competition on home soil and there have been talk of splits in the ICC.

Though, the rise of 20-overs cricket means that this is a tournament too many and it will probably be disbanded, leaving many cricketers to look like hypocrites as they travel to "unsafe" places in the knowledge that they will make lots of money.