I think it was a logical decision to postpone the champz trophy.believe it or not,pakistan is a troubled nation and we cant afford 2 let teams from trouble free countries like new zealand to have their players lives endangerd and pakistan musnt feel that they had called the shots in cancelling our odi series in their country coz we wouldnt of went anyway and they knew that and were afraid of another humilation were another team refusd 2 tour their troubld country.i cant see pakistan hosting any major series unless india and thats were they ly in world cricket

You hit the nail on the head by calling the Champions Trophy as an increasingly irrelevant trophy. There is too much cricket piled up on the fans. India played one championship in Bangladesh followed by one in Pakistan and by one Test and ODI series in Sri Lanka. In between they have fit in this Champions' Trophy followed by the tour of India by Aussies. My first comment is that there is far too much cricket risking cricketers' fatigue and their inability to produce consistently high quality of cricket. My second comment is Personal SAFETY. Westeners are constantly under the risk of attack by Islamic extremist just because of their race. This is evident from islamic attacks on touristy place all over the world. Under these circumstances it will be difficult for white nations like England, Australia, New Zealand and S.Africa to play cricket in Pakistan - a hot bed of such attacks - even if there is 1 years' delay. This is not a debating matter but a reality. Let us not kid ourselves.

Sambit - at the end of the day, who really cares? All real cricket fans should be glad that there is one less meaningless ODI tournament to worry about. In fact let's hope that it never comes back. Perhaps with this increased rest period the world's top players will be re-freshed and ready to produce some Test cricket of the highest order in 2008-09. And I think we all agree, top class Test cricket is what we all want to see.

Great article Sambit! My 2 cents: It is true that the cricketers are neither diplomats nor soldiers. Mind you, however, that the fans too are neither diplomats, nor soldiers. Yet they come out and pay to watch these nellies. Why don't the fans get the "heads of state" level security given to these performers? Are you saying a fan's live is less precious than filthy rich athlete? The reality is you are paid to do your job and your job is to go on tour and play. Why can't the players adhere to the VIP security - stay in their God for saken hotel rooms until the toss and then simply go out and perform?

I totally agree with Cronje, since the security is already in place and Pakistan is already to host a tournament, why not have a subcontinent tournament against all Asian countries. I think it would be fun and exciting for the fans, and give an oppertunity to show ICC and rest of the world how its done !!!

this is so unfair with us i dont know wat else we should do to esure the security of non asian teams and 1 think i cant understand other than sambit and osman not even a single 1 is talking about the bomb blast in jaupur (ipl) not even a single australian didnt refuse to play in jaipur why is that knowing the fact that the bomb blast killed 80 people

Two brilliant articles by Sambit and Osman. Reading both the articles and the comments, one fact is clear: the security concerns have more to do with a general perception of the subcontinent than the security measures put in place by PCB as such. I would suppose that those of us who are from the subcontinent are more cognizant of the threat of terrorism as such than many Western nations. What should be done to change the latter's mindset? Well, there could be many measures but there's one final solution: get rid of terrorism itself. There are times when sport transcends itself. Cricket certainly has done it many a time. I daresay that when it comes to the common man, Indians and Pakistanis are closer to each other than maybe a decade ago. And I daresay that the Friendship series could have played a small role in that. Can this be one of the bricks to wall out terrorism. An optimist hopes so.

I agree. I also wonder why England are now playing another interminable 50 over contest against South Africa. What is the point? Let us see 50 overs cricket confined to the World Cup and a few warm ups and let the players focus on Test Matches for genuine cricket and 20/20 for entertainment, outreach and cash.

Rightly or wrongly, Pakistan is seen as the paradigm of a failed state. Add to that the toxic mix of a perceived weak cricket team and political appointments to the PCB by ex President Musharaff and more than enough fuel has been supplied to the naysayers. Unfortunately, the PCB doesn't have the BCCI riches to tempt teams or players-result-exclusion.If the ICC is not aware, it shoud be now, that a split -Asia v the others may yet occur.Now, that would be tragic.

Once upon a time, when India refused to play in Pakistan, citing Government's directions, the ICC told tall tales that action would be taken against any board which refuses to play in any country, and then allowed the Autralia series to be moved from Pakistan to Sharjah, and now, 'postponed' the Champions Trophy, because some boards refused to play. The conclusion is unmistakable: The ICC is a bunch of cowards living in a fool's paradise.