A team in search of a safe haven

One would expect Pakistan's batsmen to prefer the UAE as a Test venue to the UK even though scoring freely on the two untested pitches over five days of a Test might not be all that easy.

Dubai Chalo! (let's go to Dubai) was a popular saying in Pakistani society in the 1980s as many Pakistani migrants entered the Gulf seeking financial security for their families.

Such a slogan may also become the policy for Pakistan cricket as it seeks a "home away from home" to play its matches. Talking about the future of Pakistan cricket is a hazardous occupation, but it seems likely that the UAE will become a surrogate home, beginning with a series against South Africa in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, starting on October 26.

Following the terrorist incident against the Sri Lanka cricket team in 2009, Pakistan is likely to remain "a cricketing Cuba" for the major Test playing nations, to borrow a phrase from Michael Atherton. While many members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) expressed sentiments of support for Pakistan, only the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) provided concrete support to them, by offering England as a base for Pakistan's home matches and by playing two Twenty20 matches in the UAE earlier this year in February.

There is little doubt that there were financial incentives for the ECB as well, it was not a mere philanthropic act, yet equally Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, spoke passionately about helping Pakistan in an article in a cricket magazine in England early in the summer.

But the corruptions allegations, followed by the bumbling Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, making an ill-advised statement against England, led to bridges being burnt and walls being erected. Butt did not so much bite, but chomp the hand, that was if not feeding, then certainly helping. Butt has since apologised, but the damage has been done. David Collier, politely but firmly, virtually ruled out England as an option as a neutral venue for the foreseeable future.

Relations between the two cricket boards are only likely to improve once Butt is no longer the chairman of the board.

His comments undoubtedly played a major hand in the bad-tempered finish to the series. The relationship between the English and Pakistani players has suffered. Many Pakistanis in Britain also felt the UK tabloids - themselves enraged by Butt's comments - have been somewhat over the top with their coverage. The whole episode has led to much bad feeling. Pakistan will lose much-needed revenue from no longer having England as an option for its "home" Tests.

Even though the attendance of Pakistanis settled in England was below expectations for the Test matches, the series against Australia was reported in the press as a financial success with the PCB expected to make profits of US$2 million. Using the UAE as an adopted venue is unlikely to be as financially favourable. And while the Pakistani diaspora in the UAE are likely to turn up in numbers for the limited overs matches, the attendance for the two Test matches is likely to be modest.

Against South Africa, Pakistan will play at Dubai Sports City and at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The facilities are first class at both venues. although pitches in the UAE at the new venues have been generally slow and low and not necessarily easy to score on.

Nonetheless, one would expect Pakistan's batsmen to prefer the UAE as a Test venue to the UK even though scoring freely on the two untried and untested UAE pitches over five days of a Test might not be all that easy. Things never are when it comes to Pakistan.

Kamran Bashir is a writer at PakPassion.net