LEEDS: Pakistan`s victory in the second Test against Australia here at Headingley has left one businessman hoping the team will return to exploit their fan-base among the local expatriate community.
Leeds and the adjoining city of Bradford, often called `mini Pakistan`, are home to some 120,000 settlers, the largest concentration of Pakistanis in England outside of the West Midlands.
Security concerns meant Pakistan`s two-Test series against Australia was played in England.
After losing the series opener by 150 runs at Lord`s, Pakistan won by three wickets at Headingley here on Saturday, ending a record run of 13 straight Test defeats by Australia stretching back 15 years.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"It has been quite some time since the Pakistanis of Yorkshire have had so much to celebrate,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Arshad Chaudhry, chairman of the Leeds-based Asian Business Development Network, told AFP.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We can build on this,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" added Chaudhry, also a Yorkshire County Cricket Club member, after Pakistan bowled Australia out for just 88 in their first innings - their lowest total in 26 years.
Pakistan, after several stumbles, achieved a tricky victory target of 180, to spark scenes of celebration amongst fans at home and abroad.
But Pakistan itself became a no-go area for international cricket after an armed attack on Sri Lanka`s team bus in Lahore in March last year.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"It is so very important that the passion the game of cricket creates in Pakistan and amongst Pakistanis across the globe is nurtured and turned to positive commercial benefit, not only for the people of Pakistan, but also for the communities the Pakistanis live in,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" said Chaudhry.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"These are testing times for Pakistan cricket and extra efforts are needed to help overcome it.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan last week held out the prospect of Headingley staging more Pakistan `home` matches in the near future.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"There`s talk of Pakistan playing India next year, and we want to be at the forefront of the queue to host one of those games,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Regan said.
But counties such as Yorkshire risk losing money on `neutral` matches if ticket sales are poor.
One of the most disappointing aspects of Pakistan`s victory at Headingley was that there were just a few thousand spectators in the ground each day.
But Chaudhry said better promotion would lead to increased crowds.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I am sad that not many people came to watch but I hope the next time the media project these matches properly so people know about them and they come in large numbers.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Yorkshire and the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) have gone out of their way to host the Pakistan-Australia home series here in England.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We need to appreciate the effort, as it involved financial risks on behalf of the organisers.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
BDST: 1347HRS, July 26, 2010
