Lahore attack has the world divided over IPL participation
Lahore attack has the world divided over IPL participation
Brett Lee, the pin-up boy of Australian cricket, says he will not bow to terrorism by withdrawing from this year's IPL, but for New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram no amount of money would persuade him to put his life in danger after Tuesday's traumatic carnage in Lahore.
Sri Lankan star bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, the world's highest wicket-taker, who was caught up in the terrorists' gunfire, has been so traumatised he is considering calling it a day.
The differing reactions also exemplify the dilemma facing most Australian players contracted with IPL, which now faces the distinct possibility of having the world's best cricketers opting for safety in preference to lucre.
Former England coach Duncan Fletcher put the predicament of his ex-star players like Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff in sharp perspective when he said yesterday: "India is different.
"The traffic is often so bad that in the big centres, where a lot of the cricket is played, the coach can move along only slowly at times, which turns it into a sitting duck for terrorists.
"There is nothing stopping a tuk-tuk (rickshaw) pulling up alongside and detonating a bomb," Fletcher said.
Meanwhile, England captain Andrew Strauss said in the West Indies yesterday: "You are never vulnerable until something like this, then you're always feeling vulnerable.
"Wherever we go in the world, we have very good security. But I suppose this proves that, no matter how much security, there is always a chance that something can happen."
Players who pull out of the IPL run the risk of being sued for breach of contract, the only provisions for exception being the death of a close family member or participation in games outside India where their safety may be at risk as a result of any 'war, epidemic or political unrest'.
However, the exit clause does not apply to matches played within India.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting, now touring South Africa, said yesterday the participation of Australian players in the tournament could not be guaranteed following the explicit targeting of Sri Lankan players, which was the main talking point among his players yesterday.
"I sat with Pup (Michael Clarke) last night and he was saying how happy he was not to be playing in the IPL.
But some of the other guys who potentially could be going there will have all those things to think about, more so than they did before."
Along with Brett Lee, Australians Nathan Bracken, Dave Hussey, Brad Hodge and wunderkind Dave Warner are said to be keen to play in next month's IPL, despite the Lahore attack.
Former Australian great Glenn McGrath admitted that playing in the IPL was weighing on his mind.
"It does hit home a lot more considering being a cricketer," the former pace bowler said. "With the IPL coming up, there's concerns there too, being quite close to Pakistan."
Even as IPL chairman Lalit Modi adamantly denied there was any possibility of cancellation or postponement of this year's tournament because of the Lahore terrorist attack or the forthcoming Indian parliamentary elections, Kiwi Jacob Oram was categorical.
"After what happened in Mumbai last year and after what happened last night, it keeps raising questions.
Before that I would have no worries about going to India, but now there are questions to be asked," Oram said.
Describing the security arrangements for the Sri Lankan team as "shameful", former Pakistan captain Imran Khan told the BBC the attack was a "disaster for Pakistan sport", while former England captain Michael Atherton wrote in The Times of London: "By targeting something that is close to the hearts of most Pakistanis, the one thing that allowed Pakistan normal engagement with the West, this attack has ensured further isolation there.
"Certainly cricket isolation, which will be the sad but inevitable result. It is no longer safe to play in Pakistan," Atherton wrote.
Nasser Hussain, another former England skipper bemoaned in his newspaper column: "I never want to see cricket disappear from any of its heartlands but I'm afraid this emphasises that the show cannot always go on."
