SL cricket officials slammed for Pakistan tour

Sri Lanka's cricket administrators came under heavy fire Wednesday for their decision to tour Pakistan despite other countries pulling out due to security concerns.

Opposition lawmaker Ravi Karunanayake said the country should not have risked the national cricket team when India and Australia had decided to pull out of Pakistan because of fears of terror attacks.

"Sri Lanka rushed in where others feared to tread," he said, blaming Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for the injuries suffered by seven members of the team and their assistant coach during Tuesday's gun and grenade attack in Lahore.

"There is a reason why other countries did not want to play in Pakistan," Karunanayake said. "Even last week, there had been a protest outside the team hotel and a player told me they wanted to return, but were told to stay on."

Another opposition legislator Anurakumara Dissanayake slammed the authorities for sending Sri Lanka to replace India, which refused to tour the country after the Mumbai terror attacks blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

"What we want to know is who took the decision to send the team to Pakistan and what was the basis for their decision," Dissanayake said.

The privately-run Daily Mirror suggested that Sri Lanka's decision may have been fuelled by empty coffers at SLC, the island's governing body for the sport.

"A Pakistan tour was to give a minor relief, but even a straw is enough for the man who is drowning," the Mirror said. "But the cardinal mistake was to compromise safety for money."

There was no immediate reaction from SLC, but sources close to the cricket management said they were worried about the fallout from Tuesday's incident as questions were being raised about accountability.

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