The recent attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore brought to the fore what is happening in a country where its sports teams are not excluded from the political machinations of the ruling clique.

Despite what Michael Roberts has to say ("Island" of Saturday,28th February 2008) about teams that have, over the years, "wimped out" and avoided tours to countries where there has been terrorist threat, it seemed like it made no sense, except politically (in its narrowest sense), to send our cricketers to Pakistan at a time such as the present. It certainly provided confirmation of Sri Lanka’s gratitude for military favours granted over the years in this country’s conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. But was that a reasonable gesture given the fact that Pakistan is probably the single most unstable country in Asia? This is a nation currently engaged in a game of "chicken" with its neighbour, India, after the Mumbai massacre and with an internal conflict with its own Muslim fundamentalists, in its major cities and, particularly, in the north western parts of that country.

Unlike some, I do not think that we need to place our cricketers at risk even though it might be an appropriate indication of our affection and gratitude to a neighbour, nor to prove the accuracy (or lack thereof, in this instance) of the "experts" in risk-assessment. Politicians do not have the right to place representatives of this country, particularly unarmed ones, at risk of life and limb in these circumstances. For the politicians and "experts" in such matters, this is a "no-brainer" because, if the visit is completed without incident, they could say, "I told you so" and enjoy the fruits of that particular victory. In the event that there are tragic consequences to their decision to place unarmed Sri Lankans at risk, the heinous nature of the terrorist attack will capture everyone’s attention and the politicians (and "experts") will escape relatively unscathed once again.

What is even more reprehensible is the fact that there appears to be substantial evidence that our cricketers are being sent out like gladiators to earn foreign exchange because the politicians, through the functionaries they entrust with the coffers of the Sri Lankan cricket authority, are making an eminent success of frittering away the funds earned by our national teams, leaving the national sports organizations in serious financial jeopardy.

Certain sections of the public (and media) are only too ready to pillory members of the national cricket team for such "misdemeanours" as moving their commercial sponsorship from one brand name to another, suggesting that once they are on the local authority’s payroll, they owe some huge obligation to be purer than the driven snow in every element of their conduct. However, when those who control them and where they play are concerned, there does not seem to be an expectation of even common sense prevailing in the matter of risk. They are sent to countries where adherence to the rule of law is (believe it or not) even less evident than in Sri Lanka and with a track record of bombing, shooting and terrorist activity that makes even the LTTE look like "freedom fighters!"

This is not being wise after the event because Pakistan was and is in a state of what can charitably called "disintegration." For God’s sake did no one notice the circumstances of Benazir Bhutto’s demise, after a first attempt to assassinate her failed?

In those circumstances, to choose to accept an undertaking that our team would be given some kind of VIP security protection is, at best, naïve, though the terms "stupid" or "callous" seem more appropriate in the circumstances.

It seems that having international status in cricket brings with it not only the necessity to live up to that position in the scheme of things but to place one’s life on the line so that some political parasite in Sri Lanka can have yet another trip in business class to a destination where watching the national team will hardly take precedence over a shopping spree conducted on a generous expense account.

One cannot expect much better from the political parasites that live off the productive endeavours of any and all Sri Lankans but one can expect more in terms of analysis from those pretending to an understanding of the realities of terrorism, violence and an understanding of our prevailing political culture.