Cricketers Under Fire
Australian cricketers have been criticized many times for pulling out of tours due to security concerns. I have always defended their decisions based on the simple observation that cricket is only a game – risking several lives for a game would be insane. My arguments were scorned by expats from Sri Lank, India and Pakistan. These expats repeated the oft heard claim that terrorists would not target cricketers since these nations were (and are) cricket mad nations. Yesterday’s events showed that such claims were patently silly.
According to the news bulletins in Australia six Sri Lankan players were injured after terrorists attacked their bus on the way to the Gaddafi stadium. Only the brave actions of the bus driver prevented any serious injuries to the players and the umpires who were on a second bus. Six policeman escorting the players and officials weren’t so lucky. Neither were two civilians.
I hope that cricketers and officials around the world wake up and get their priorities straight. There are people out there who don’t care about lives. They will kill for their ideologies. Please realize that while a lot of us live and breathe cricket it is still just a game.