Australia Set To Withdraw From ICC Champions Trophy?

Question

It has been announced that Australia will heed official advice & withdraw from the championship due to safety issues.Given that this will anger the Asian countries involved(who chose to ignore the warnings of several other nations) how do you think the series will fare? And do you now see those other countries taking Australia's stance & pulling out?

Answer 1

i knew it i knew it and i was the one who predicted it first here~

Answer 2

It's not going to worry asian countries, because they live with the war around them, and they attended the Asia cup held in Pakistan....

[which brings a point whether it's in fact fair to hold the champions trophy in Pakistan where asian countries have just got some good practice and knowledge of how the pitches work there as they have just recently played there]

ICC are at fault here they need to make every team feel safe, putting the decision of the venue to a vote doesn't really put your trust in the ICC.

This was how the votes 'according to sources' went.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.a...

The so-called Asian bloc led by India was eager to back Pakistan but it took a “lot of convincing to get the support of West Indies and South Africa”.

Sources said that Australia, New Zealand and England opposed the idea of keeping the Champions Trophy in Pakistan but had to give in after it became obvious that they would be out-voted.

Answer 3

Josh j, may I suggest you ask the 19 people who were blown to pieces by their own fellow countrymen just a few weeks ago if they think there's no danger? Why do you put sport ahead of human lives? As Ange pointed out in her Q yesterday, if they had gone to Pakistan, they would have spent all the time not playing cricket, confined to their hotel rooms! All it would have taken was to move the tournament to a safer country, but no, you put money ahead of life, & that is not good enough for us westerners.Our players are precious to us & we would never ask them to do that.

Answer 4

Good idea..

I dont like the thought of the Aussie's being in the middle of the blood bath over there at the moment.Yeah bombs are going off over in Lahore.

And yeah no doubt certain Indian supporters will put the Aussies down,but we take what they say with a grain of salt.

Eng,and N.Z would be using their brains if the were to follow suit..

What sort of tournament will it be with players being locked away anyway..

The ICC has to stop sucking up the BCCI butt,this is a rediculous idea to keep the Trophy in Pakistan.

Answer 5

Aussie, aussie, aussie, oi,oi,oi.

Answer 6

Good Bye !

Ps: I was wondering whether the Aussie team would have same concerns in playing a world cup final in Lahore, due to "security reasons" ...



Geoff Lawson is an Aussie, living and working in Pakistan !

Answer 7

Cricket, believe it or not, is a game.    It is not an essential part of life, and shouldn't be regarded as such.  

  This game can be played at a huge number of places, and, although International  Competition is often more exciting for really good players, it is ludicrous, totally stupid,  to risk one's life in order to play Cricket!

Answer 8

Well Binga we all had a feeling it was coming.Yesterday when i posted that question-Who would want to play in Champs Trophy(Which OZ had deleted),

I said the players would be subject to hotel arrest and would not be able to venture out other than going from ground to ground.Now any 'sane' person can see that the ICC statment stating no teams will be fined is like they are 'inviting' teams to forfeit.IF Australia DO pull out it will only be a matter of time before England and also New Zealand pull out too.

Then no doubt South Africa will also do the same..

Heck why dont they just call it Asia Cup the 2nd?..

Anyone can put England,New Zealand And Australia down,but we their supporters say-'Good On Them"..

We in Western Countries are not used to living with exploding bombs everyday,i heard bombs are currently going off in Lahore-And that is where some of the matches are due to take place..

We dont need hero's,we need our cricket players..

Answer 9

I think other countries will follow the example set by Australia (standard bearers as always). The competition could end up just being between the Asian block.

Split in the ICC?

Answer 10

It seems to me that the ICC Champions Trophy is going to be reduced to nothing more than another Asia Cup.

Hopefully that will wake up the ICC. What are they playing at anyway? The NZ Players Association boss read exactly the same report that ended up on the desk of the ICC and suggested our players don't go and let me tell you Heath Mills is a lot smarter than the ICC execs.

EDIT: 99% of the population are, lol

Answer 11

I am glad they have made this decision.

This is called using your brains and putting safety before any money making excercise.

I think the other teams will follow Australia's lead and also with draw from this tournament.Well when i say other teams i mean New Zealand and England too..

We are talking about sending our players to places where people are being blown up,well at least none of our boys are going to be hurt..

Answer 12

I think Australia pulling out has set a precedent for other countries to follow. England, New Zealand and the West Indies have also voiced their concerns over the security in Pakistan and players have already said they're thinking about not taking part. Now that the Australian board has taken a stance I expect others will to.

Who knows what effect it'll have on the already strained realtionship between the BCCI and the ICC. It won't help it that's for sure.

Answer 13

I think Australia just heaved a collective sigh at this decision.How can anyone disagree with it?

Edit, Damian T, I think BCCI were the push behind the ICCs decision(as usual). i know a lot of people in many countries would be glad to see ICC split from BCCI, it is taking cricket too far away from what was traditionally an English sport and changing too many of its traditions.How long before they get their grubby hands on the MCCs Laws of cricket?(he shudders to think of it!)

Answer 14

that is just so dumb cmon safety issues what about all the pakistanis that live there everyday and all the other asian countries?

the ausies just think theyre to good for anybody

Answer 15

I completely agree with the Australian stance.  I am very proud of our team and do not wish to see any of the players (or supporters) put in such a risky situation. There will definitely be other nations withdraw.  What was the thinking of the ICC to award the competition to a country with a risk of this type of boycott? Are they deliberatley trying to provoke this type of response from countries such as Australia, NZ and England? The cultural differences in this type of decision making are going to be cricket's biggest challenge in the years to come, commonsense needs to be used to satify everyones concerns in these situations - otherwise they are going to create two seperate world competitions.

Answer 16

Kevin Pietersen  has also expressed concerns  about going as well

.

Answer 17

i don't think the icc should split because then there would be no fun in cricket for everyone. i can understand the security and all but you have to understand that there wasn't any problems with the security in the past so why should it be a worry now.

Answer 18

I think they have done the only thing they could and i think the other teams will follow suit.But I would like to comment on the answer from Lankan L. Australia has NEVER been accused of 'chicanery' or duplicity,the record books will show that.It's easy to make such underhand statements when you are hiding behind a fake identity, but you have nothing to back it up with.And John J, you obviously don't get out much do you? where were you when the last three or four bombs were detonated in Pakistan killing dozens of innocent people?I believe the last one was quite close to one of the main cricket venues.And it is not the Aus team who make the decisions about safety, it's the security stationed in that area. We just decide if we're going to heed that advice, and so we have.

Answer 19

No. Australia's stance will not matter to most countries. Australia's stance has always been always been percieved as one having an element of duplicity or chicanery. I am referring to the world view, and mean no disrespect to how you view that country.

Consider this, last time the Champions cup was held in India, Australia threatened a pullout. Mumbai was scheduled to host five matches, including the final and Australia's second game, during the tournament. There were serial bomb blasts in Mumbai at that time. The daily reported that Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has warned tourists heading to India to "exercise caution because of the risk of terrorist activity by militant groups."

Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) chief executive Paul Marsh hinted that Ricky Ponting's men might reconsider their participation in the Champions Trophy in India in the wake of the blasts.

CA came up with the following statement:

"The safety of Australian players is always of vital importance. We have a good procedure in place with Cricket Australia to assess overseas destinations," Marsh said.

Saying that they threatened a pull out.

Later they dispelling fears that the Aussies might withdraw from the Champions Trophy following the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, Cricket Australia has clarified that the World Champion side will participate in the event to be held in India in October-November in 2006.

They said:

"Cricket Australia looks forward to joining the BCCI and the globe's other cricketing nations at the ICC Champion's Trophy in a few months," CA president Creagh O' Connor said in a letter to his Indian counterpart Sharad Pawar.

Ironically they went on to say:

Expressing condolences to the victims of the blasts, the CA chief said: "All of us at Cricket Australia were deeply shocked to hear the tragic news of shameful bombings in the cricket-loving city of Mumbai."

In any event, they backed off. Asian nations Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan and Bangladesh together with West Indies do not really take the words of CA on face value. The president of our board Arjuna Ranatunga indicated Sri Lanka will support the games held in Pakistan.

Given the fact that Australians participated earlier despite severe bomb threats most would view this as a political stunt or a pathetic show of force.

In summary, the participants in the Champions cup will have a competitive event despite the withdrawl of Australia and most people here will neither be happy or dissapointed if they do not participate.