Farbrace in lucky escape

“SOME people believe football is a matter of life and death...I can assure you it's much, much more important than that”, legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly once famously said. If you swapped the sport then there are many in cricket-mad Pakistan who would go along with that sentiment, but its folly was brought into sharp focus by events in Lahore this morning.

Former Kent coach Paul Farbrace was caught up in the carnage after the bus he was travelling in was ambushed in a terror attack. The 41-year-old had a hugely lucky escape and it will probably only take days to recover from the shrapnel wound in his arm, but the damage done to the sport in cricket-mad Pakistan will cut far deeper.

The popular figure, who was first a player at Kent before returning to become a coach at the club’s Academy, left in July 2007 to become assistant coach with Sri Lanka. He was accompanying the team as they made their way to the Gaddafi Stadium for the third day of the second Test when the attack happened.

Reports suggest the attack was pre-planned and in retrospect it is astonishing that more people were not killed. Tragically six policemen died in the assault, but the figure easily could have been far higher.

It all had a chilling echo of the Munich Olympics in 1972, where Israeli athletes were specifically targeted. On this occasion fortunately Farbrace and the Sri Lanka team were able to walk away from their ordeal, but Pakistan will be bracing itself for the consequences.

The series was only taking place as a result of India’s decision to pull out of a tour following terror attacks in Mumbai three months ago. Sri Lanka were there as a favour to their hosts, which makes this morning’s events all the more galling.

Security was high but clearly not sufficient and it may be some time before another team dares touring Pakistan. In the immediate aftermath there is talk of banning teams visiting altogether for the foreseeable future, with Pakistan playing their ‘home’ tests in neutral countries – including England.

Longer term the consequences are likely to jeopardise the country’s joint hosting of the World Cup in 2011. Ultimately depriving the people of Pakistan the chance to stage cricket’s biggest event could be the biggest tragedy of all, but contrary to Shankly's view, it is simply not worth the risk.

David Pritchard