The terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore could lead to Dubai and Abu Dhabi becoming the "home" venues for the subcontinent's cricket-playing countries for the forseeable future, according to leading officials in England and worldwide. It would be the first time that Tests have been played regularly outside the traditional top cricket-playing countries.
Following last week's shootings, in which eight people were killed, and the Mumbai atrocities before Christmas, there are serious doubts over the venues for the 2011 World Cup, which is due to be co-hosted by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The forthcoming Twenty20 Indian Premier League is also under threat, as are a number of international tours.
Kevin Pietersen, who has signed for the Bangalore Royal Challengers, admitted last night that he might withdraw from the IPL. "If I don't think it's right then I'll not be going," he said. "I'll be speaking to Bangalore, to the ECB, to my agent, and to security advisers. Hopefully, the security will come right for India but if everybody pulls out of the IPL then world cricket would really be on a down."
Sean Morris, chief executive of the domestic players' union, the Professional Cricketers' Association, said: "I can't paint the entire subcontinent under one brush, but today everyone is asking about playing in that region, full stop."
Tim May, head of the global players' union, Fica, said: "The viability of playing there will certainly be guided by security experts. It's easy to have a knee-jerk reaction but the risk factor for holding [the World Cup] in this area has risen."
The England and Wales Cricket Board chairman, Giles Clarke, when asked directly about England playing a nation from the subcontinent in the United Arab Emirates, said: "The answer is we should be able to consider anywhere. The Middle East – Abu Dhabi, Dubai – is a perfectly viable option."
International cricket has been played in the Gulf since 1983 and Sharjah, another Emirate, has hosted 198 one-day games, more than anywhere else, as well as four Tests. The Gulf states have invested billions of dollars in building new cricket facilities and their population is made up largely of expatriate workers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are seen as safe havens should any of the subcontinent countries – or their opponents – wish to move fixtures. Pakistan have already agreed to play their one-day internationals in Abu Dhabi and are talking about moving Tests there. Dubai's £4bn Sports City complex, which features a new 25,000-capacity cricket stadium, is nearing completion, and the ICC's new offices will be on site, too.
The teams would receive a warm welcome from their prospective hosts. "We're not here to exploit anyone's misfortune. But as far as we're concerned we'd say we have two excellent, world-class venues. We're here for the cricket," said Dilwar Mani, president of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Association and brother of Ehsan Mani, the former ICC chief who has extensive connections throughout the game.
Another consequence of the Lahore shootings could be Test series played by three or four nations rather than two, in countries where security fears are comparatively low. "You have to be open-minded to ideas," said Morris, who mooted the idea when he made a presentation to the ECB in January on the feasibility of triangular series. "Let's have the debate rather than dismissing them instantly."
Morris said the PCA would be open to discussing a quadrangular Test competition that could be suited to the short English summer. He also raised the possibility of playing floodlit Tests.
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