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England team spirit weathers security restraints

LAHORE: Security restrictions on their leisure time have failed to dampen the spirits of England’s cricketers on their tour of Pakistan.

Touring teams of the past enjoyed visits to the Khyber Pass or explored tribal towns but such trips are now off-limits as team officials follow British government advice drawn up since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Whereas they might visit beach bars in the Caribbean, go sailing in New Zealand or watch lion cubs in South Africa, the England cricketers are having to settle for more mundane pursuits in Pakistan.

The squad pass their free time playing golf, watching DVDs, going shopping accompanied by security personnel, playing computer games or having a beer in the team room at their hotel, with armed guards outside. Despite the restrictions, and the nerves created by a fatal bomb blast outside a restaurant in Karachi this month metres from where they will stay for two nights next month, the players have been determined to get some fresh air in their free time. “There is a misconception on this trip that the players are confined to barracks and haven’t been able to venture out of the hotel for security reasons,” team spokesman Andrew Walpole said.

“From the outset we made it clear to the players that they would be able to leave the hotel as long as they informed the security team as to where they were going.” Eight players visited a hospital in Islamabad for victims of the Oct. 8 earthquake, which killed more than 73,000 people, while some dropped in on a children’s orphanage in Multan.

England fleeces: Captain Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick flew in a Royal Air Force (RAF) helicopter to deliver aid to earthquake victims. “They wore their England fleeces and took them off and donated them as people were cold and starving,” Walpole said. “These players asked if they could do that; it wasn’t as though they had to go as part of a PR exercise. More players would have liked to have gone but the RAF could only accommodate two.”

England had four days in between the second test and Tuesday’s start of the third test in the cosmopolitan city of Lahore.

The smaller cities of Multan and Faisalabad, where the first two tests were staged, had limited activities on offer. Players went shopping in Multan, accompanied by security officials when visiting bazaars. Reserve wicketkeeper Matt Prior dined with Pakistan player and Sussex team mate Mushtaq Ahmed. “There are times when you think `I need to go out’ but it’s not as though we’re not allowed to leave the hotel or go anywhere,” Prior said. “A security guy will probably come with us but we can go out and do stuff within reason: a few of the guys went to the local shops in Lahore. “The perception is that we’re frightened to go out but it’s not as bad as that. What gets more frustrating is the lack of things to do. But sometimes watching DVDs in your hotel room is more appealing than wading through markets.”

Andrew Flintoff said that he and best friend Steve Harmison had exhausted their DVD collection on the tour, having watched British comedies such as `The Office’ and `Only Fools and Horses’ on their laptop computers. Any excursion outside the hotel is usually preceded by a reconnaissance mission by the team’s security officers, who are former army servicemen.

Team room: “We encourage players to go out and embrace the local cultures,” Walpole said. “It’s good for players to go out and leave the team room behind. They have been feted by the local people, who we have seen carrying Union Jacks in the crowd.” In the team room, Vaughan, Ashley Giles and Paul Collingwood were seen going head-to-head on their handheld PlayStations. Soccer and golf games are the most common.

Others have opted to play golf for real. While the team were playing the second test in Faisalabad, reserves Collingwood, Prior and Alastair Cook went to play at the nearby nine-hole golf course. “Cookie couldn’t hire any left-handed clubs so he had to play tennis by himself instead,” Prior said. “It was good to get away and do something different. Colly is off five and he plays proper golf; he’s probably the best amongst us.” Collingwood brings his own putter on tour and can be seen practising his putting in hotel corridors. The whole team will attend a golf day on Sunday to raise money for earthquake victims.

Former England test player Darren Gough said that when he toured Pakistan in 2000 there was also little to do but he found the limited leisure activities helped with camaraderie. “One thing about Pakistan tours is that it brings team spirit together better than anywhere else,” Gough said. “Because there is not much to do we all used to meet up at the team room and have a beer. “I remember holding court in that room many times and taking the mickey out of everyone. That tour in 2000 was probably the best I ever went on in terms of camaraderie.” reuters

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