So the war on terror is over is it? Or so we’re told by everyone from David Miliband, scuttling to put distance between himself and his former allies in Washington, to assorted senior spooks, gallantly trying to cover their backs. Even the saintly Barack has indicated that talk of ‘war on terror’ is dangerous. But tell that to the dead Pakistani policeman in Lahore this week, armed with ancient rifles against the brutal force of automatic pistols, RPGs and grenades; tell that to Sri Lanka’s shattered Test cricketers, only saved from wholesale slaughter by a courageous bus driver and a grenade that failed; tell that to the vast sprawl of Pakistan’s passionate cricket-lovers who will not see any international sport in their country, let alone their beloved cricket, for many, many years to come. Tell that to former England Test player Chris Broad, the match referee, his shirt covered in blood after hurling himself onto the match umpire to save him during the gun battle. The war on terror’s over, is it? Well, terror’s war on us appears to be hotting up.
When murder and sport collide, it is hard not to think that something has died in our belief in the delicate, fragile purity of the games we love. That a dozen or so heavily armed, well-trained merciless psychopaths can effectively destroy a great country’s national sport is cruel beyond belief. That it should happen to the cricketers of more or less everyone’s second favourite nation after their own, Sri Lanka, defies reason. The Sri Lankans were there only because India had pulled out, for horribly pertinent safety reasons. There were something intensely loveable about the endlessly enthusiastic Sri Lankans stepping in. They were the only country willing to play, God bless them. Yes, we’ll give you a series, they said. We know about terror, we’ve had bombings, we have had civil war, we have been ravaged by tsunami, our land has been shattered, our grounds wrecked, but we believe in the sport. And this is how they were repaid for their generosity. God help us.
These attacks were brilliantly planned. It must have taken months, though we still don’t know how long. The Mumbai atrocities had clearly been a long time in the planning. Were the Lahore killers originally planning to target the Indian team? We don’t know. After Mumbai, India came very close to bombing Pakistan. Heaven knows what might now be happening in the region, had India’s players, Tendulkar, Dravid, Dhoni, and the rest, been on that bus. It puts into perspective the considerable resource and bravery shown by Kevin Pietersen and his England team in returning to India after Mumbai. I doubt that would happen now.
But something good can come from the savagery in Lahore. Pakistanis love their cricket, like India, from the dusty wastelands where children turn their arm over, to the stadiums of the world where the TV superstars make their millions. They should not be cast out of the world’s cricket community. Pakistan has one of most highly educated and sophisticated middle classes in the world. Now there won’t be any international sport in Pakistan, let alone cricket, for some time to come. But their cricketers must not suffer. They must be allowed to play abroad; and welcomed. Why doesn’t the English Cricket Board offer to host the Sri Lanka/Pakistan series this summer, or even next year? We have a host of great Test grounds. Is there any reason why we shouldn’t have two series running at the same time?
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