UCBSA Announce Tour Cancellation

By SS
September 21 2003

The tour by South Africa to Pakistan was called off by the UCBSA. Interestingly the players are saying it was the UCBSA that called off the tour, but the UCBSA say it was a decision made by the players.

The UCBSA announced that their team will not be touring Pakistan as the security situation has suddenly rapidly declined since their security experts left the country a couple of days ago. In two days and as a result of a small bomb blast Pakistan has suddenly become the most dangerous place in the world, where all Pakistanis are out to kill any South African they can get their hands on.

This decision was made after a bomb blast in Karachis commercial district which according to the BBC, was a result of an individual business grudge rather than any terrorist activity. The South African group of cowards was due to leave for Pakistan today and in my opinion, were never going to go to Pakistan in the first place.

All the signals, the vibes, the language coming from every Tom, Van Dyk and Harry in South Africa was one of negativity about Pakistan and its people. They sent their security team in the hope that some small problem could be found with the arrangements and they could make a big issue over it, but when this was not possible, the UCBSA had to reluctantly and cunningly say that the tour was still one, but remember this was made with some reservations and clauses.

Let me remind the South Africans that a certain gentleman by the name of Mike Procter is currently in Pakistan, in fact today he was in Karachi. When I saw him on the television today he seemed to be enjoying himself and there were no signs of bodyguards or any tension around Mr Procter. Maybe Mr Procter could tell his countrymen a thing or two about Pakistan, instead of them listening to all the crap they are hearing from their media.

It must be noted that many of the cameramen working on the current Pakistan versus Bangladesh series are from South Africa, and once again I could not see too many of them walking around with bodyguards or bulletproof vests.

As I have written earlier, this decision was a premeditated one by the UCBSA and its players. They were never interested in touring Pakistan and they should be open, manly and honest about this fact, instead of playing games with the international cricketing community. The South African team have just managed to draw against a mediocre England team in England and were beaten out of sight in the last test. They have only had a 10 day rest period between the end of the England tour and what would have been the start of the Pakistan tour, I bet most of the players wanted a longer rest and did not fancy going to Pakistan.

Instead the over sensitive South Africans want to be playing golf and putting their feet up, instead of pitting themselves against the likes of Mohamed Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam ul Haq in the sub continent, they’ve obviously opted for the easy option.

The South Africans now find themselves in the awkward position of having now been offered a revised itinerary by the PCB, I wonder what excuse they will make this time. Interestingly though, they are quite happy for the matches to be played in South Africa, which is a very cheeky offer.

The South Africans seem to be forgetting that the Bengalis have quietly and in a very dignified manner continued their tour in Pakistan without any fuss or drama. Are they not humans too, do they not value their lives too?

The Karachi public today displayed their disgust in the South African decision with many banners in the crowd. The Pakistani players also showed their contempt for the African decision by wearing black armbands.

The world is a dangerous place and in my opinion the South Africans are over reacting. If one wants to make major issues about such events then I dont think any sports would be played, anywhere in the world, maybe except Antartica.

The South Africans also seem to have a short memory and should recall when Pakistan toured South Africa and had two players mugged outside their hotel. All the Pakistani players and officials wanted to return home, but were begged by the UCBSA to stay on and finalise the tour, which they did.