Pakistan stripped of 2011 World Cup matches
Pakistan will no longer host the 2011 World Cup after the ICC decided today to move matches out of the country. The decision is on the back of the recent attacks against the Sri Lankan players which were endured by the side on their tour of Pakistan only a couple of months ago. The ICC's official reasoning is the "uncertain security situation" in the country.
The ICC rubbed further salt into the wounds, by also stating that Pakistan are unlikely to host any matches in their country against other international sides until 2011. The announcement delivers a massive blow to the country who were still confident of hosting some World Cup games for the 2011 tournament.
The announcement has raised a lot of criticism from the Pakistan side of the ledger with a number of senior officials within Pakistan cricket lamenting the decision.
India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will share between the 16 matches that Pakistan were supposed to host for 2011 World Cup.
Cricinfo - World Cup matches moved out of Pakistan
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Definitely the right call. Had Pakistan hosted the game we could have seen another farcical situation where teams boycotted games due the safety concerns within the country, ala the 2003 World Cup. New Zealand not travelling to Zimbabwe for their matches back in 2003 is a prime example of this and that and other nations refusing to travel there saw Kenya make the semi-finals.
Pakistan need to get their house in order now, they won't be hosting any international games for at least two years so they've got plenty of time to start getting things sorted security and stability wise. I don't think anyone wants to see a potential basket-case Zimbabwe-type situation again.
Pakistan will no longer host the 2011 World Cup after the ICC decided today to move matches out of the country. The decision is on the back of the recent attacks against the Sri Lankan players which were endured by the side on their tour of Pakistan only a couple of months ago. The ICC's official reasoning is the "uncertain security situation" in the country.
The ICC rubbed further salt into the wounds, by also stating that Pakistan are unlikely to host any matches in their country against other international sides until 2011. The announcement delivers a massive blow to the country who were still confident of hosting some World Cup games for the 2011 tournament.
The announcement has raised a lot of criticism from the Pakistan side of the ledger with a number of senior officials within Pakistan cricket lamenting the decision.
India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will share between the 16 matches that Pakistan were supposed to host for 2011 World Cup.
Cricinfo - World Cup matches moved out of Pakistan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Definitely the right call. Had Pakistan hosted the game we could have seen another farcical situation where teams boycotted games due the safety concerns within the country, ala the 2003 World Cup. New Zealand not travelling to Zimbabwe for their matches back in 2003 is a prime example of this and that and other nations refusing to travel there saw Kenya make the semi-finals.
Pakistan need to get their house in order now, they won't be hosting any international games for at least two years so they've got plenty of time to start getting things sorted security and stability wise. I don't think anyone wants to see a potential basket-case Zimbabwe-type situation again.
