ABORTED
TEST TOURS | | Reasons
for abandoning the tour |
West
Indies to England
1939 (link)
| Outbreak of War | As War loomed, the last seven matches of the tour in England were hastily cancelled and the tour
party hurried off to catch the first available ship home across the Atlantic Ocean.
More than 800 people joined the 'Montrose'
at Liverpool and 400 more, including the West Indian cricketers, at Greenock
in Scotland. When two days out to sea, the Admiralty
called the ship back to port but, after six hours of delay, she was allowed
to sail again. |
England (MCC) to Pakistan
1968-69 (link) | Political upheaval and rioting by students | The East Pakistan section of the tour was cancelled on 30 January
because a state of emergency existed in Dacca
but then restored. The Pakistan Board (B.C.C.P) was desperate for M.C.C. not
to abandon the tour and persuaded manager Les Ames to keep the tour going until
the third morning of the final Test at Karachi.
Things got completely out-of-hand when rioters stormed into the ground.
Fortunately, the team was able to get on the first flight out of Karachi. |
India to Pakistan
1984-85 (link) | Assassination of Indira Gandhi | Following Mrs Gandhi's assassination the one-day international at
Sialkot was
halted. The Indian Board decided the team would be brought home immediately
to conform with the government call for thirteen days of national mourning,
and the last three matches were cancelled. |
New Zealand to Sri Lanka 1986-87 (link) | Explosion in the capital city Colombo killed 100 people | Sri Lankan officials had persuaded the NZ Cricket Council that it
was safe to tour. However, during the first Test match a massive explosion in
the capital city Colombo
killed 100 people. Gamini Dissanayeke, as President of the Sri Lanka Board,
asked the team to continue the tour with additional security but left it to
the team to decide. In the end no-one could guarantee security in Colombo and the NZ
Cricket Council accepted the unanimous wishes of the team to abandon the
tour. |
New Zealand to Pakistan 2002 (link) | Explosion outside team hotel | As the teams were about to leave their hotels for the second Test
match a bomb blast killed 15 people outside their Karachi hotel. The bomber’s
target was a navy bus carrying French defence technicians helping build two
submarines at the dockyard. None of the tour party was seriously hurt
although NZ physiotherapist Dayle Shackel received a cut to his forearm from
flying glass. The New Zealanders felt that the Pakistan Government and the Cricket
Board had done everything reasonably possible to protect their players during
the tour, and none of the cricketers was injured, but it was the last time New Zealand toured Pakistan. Cancelling the
remainder of the tour cause significant financial hardship for the Pakistan
Board which has already lost nearly £7m
in potential revenue since September 11. |
Sri Lanka to New Zealand 2004-05 (link) | Asian tsunami | The Sri Lankans had barely begun the limited-overs section of
their tour of New Zealand
when the tsunami struck, destroying vast swathes of Sri Lanka's
coastline. At first the tour was only suspended for five days of national
mourning but the players all wanted to return home and a decision was soon
made to abandon the tour. The New Zealanders were able to reschedule the Sri Lankan Tests
for the autumn. |
South Africa to Sri Lanka 2006 (link) | Bomb blast | A two-Test series was completed but South Africa pulled out of the
one-day tri-series that was to follow the Test maches, citing security
concerns after a bomb blast near the team hotel. An independent security
analyst described the risk to the players as being at an unacceptable level
and the Sri Lankan Government were unable to guarantee physical security, so
the team was consequently withdrawn. |
Sri Lanka to Pakistan 2008-09 (link) | Terrorists opened fire on the team bus in Lahore | Masked men opened fire as the Sri Lankan team bus approached Lahore’s cricket
stadium for the second Test match.
Five players and the assistant coach were injured, Samaraweera and
Mendis badly so. The second Test was
immediately called off following the attack and the tourists returned home as
soon as possible. This put an end to any further international cricket in Pakistan. |
West Indies to Sri Lanka 2010-11 (link) | Weather | The one-day series was abandoned because of persistently wet
weather conditions. The two cricket boards and their television partners
agreed on 9 December 2010 that the
remainder of the tour should be postponed to late January 2011. |
West Indies to India 2014-15 (link) | Players’ strike | The West Indian team abandoned the tour, leaving a three-Test
match series unplayed, the first time that any tour had been abandoned
because of players withdrawing, though things had come close on previous
tours because of controversial umpiring (as on the Windies’ tour of New
Zealand in 1980). The 2014 team was in dispute with its own Players’ Association,
and with WIPA chief executive Wavell Hinds in particular, for putting forward
a contract that cut the Test players’ share of sponsorship fees which was
somehow agreed without the players approving it. |