South Africa on Wednesday said playing in Pakistan is vital to the future of world cricket but that its top priority is the safety of its players.
The Proteas arrived on Tuesday for a shortened 29-day tour after briefly cancelling over security fears triggered by a blast in an empty office building in Karachi three days before they were originally due to arrive in the crowded port city.
Karachi and the northwestern city of Peshawar have been dropped from the itinerary and the number of matches was reduced in a last-minute compromise that revived the long-awaited tour.
”We took a decision on September 18 that we were coming and the next day there was a bomb blast, which forced us to cancel the tour,” Ray Mali, president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, told reporters in the easternmost city of Lahore.
He defended his board’s decision to cancel the tour a day after the bomb blast in the Karachi office building.
”I have no regrets on the decision of delaying the tour. We have got to be sure whatever steps they are taking are the right steps,” said Mali.
”Pakistan has to be kept going and we need to tour this country but combining with the question of security we have got to make sure that the players are safe.”
Mali said he was pleased by the extent to which the Pakistan Cricket Board cooperated to save the tour.
”The people of Pakistan love the game, they are mad about cricket and I believe they must be supported by all of us for world cricket to survive,” said Mali.
The South African cricket team have been provided security normally reserved for state heads.
They are the first Western side to tour Pakistan after a suicide bomb blast that forced the New Zealand team to cut short its tour in May last year.
Pakistan have had to play two of their home series against West Indies and Australia on neutral grounds after both teams refused to tour over security fears. — Sapa-AFP