“The PCB should have at least, only for the sake of convincing Dave Richardson, taken some superficially solid security measures at National Stadium during his presence. He is here to observe the condition of cricket here in the country,” Zaheer Abbas told PPI.
Pakistan has not hosted an international series since an attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009.
The former batsman is of the view that a great deal of work needs to be done to develop a secure environment in Pakistan to convince the foreign teams to play cricket. And Zaheer said that the PCB has never taken the matter seriously.
Zaheer said that PCB should have been organising a low-profile tournaments such as six-a-side involving foreign players.
“I have been saying that they should call few players such as from Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe or somewhere else and organise a six-a-side tournament. In this way, the clouds of insecurity may diffuse,” Zaheer, also called the Asian Bradman, said.
He explained that if several tournaments like six-a-side, are organised on regular basis, the international cricket community could be convinced to send their teams for a full-fledged cricket series.
“The top national teams would only be convinced to play cricket in Pakistan if they see other foreign players playing in Pakistan. And in the beginning, only organising low-profile tournaments are possible,” he said.
“They (PCB) had to start from scratch after the attack on the Sri Lankan team. But they have been delaying such an initiative and it would do no good for cricket in Pakistan,” he stressed.
