Australian High Commissioner addresses ESUP gathering in Karachi

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Australian High Commissioner in Pakistan, Peter Heyward, impressed everyone with his thorough understanding of the game of cricket during his keynote address to the English Speaking Union of Pakistan (ESUP) at the Hotel Beach Luxury, Karachi, on June 21.

The topic of his speech was ‘Cricket in Australia’ and he dwelled at length at the various aspects of the gentleman’s game. 

He enlightened the audience by sharing the historic perspectives in a candid manner and the intensity was sustained throughout half an hour as he combined his own thoughts while recalling the incidents having brought out about the most significant changes.

The High Commissioner touched upon the bitter memories of the early 20^th century when six of the leading cricketers of his country, including the legendary Victor Trumper, had revolted against the board. He also recalled the crisis of the 1970s when a man called Kerry Packer had taken on the cricket establishment of Australia.

The ESUP function, for a change, began with a presentation as Ehsan Qureshi, a veteran sports journalist and a prolific author, was invited at the stage to present copies of his World Cup books to the Australian High Commissioner who was appreciative of the gesture.

Aziz Memon, President, ESUP, while introducing the Australian High Commissioner prior to his speech, described Peter Heyward as an articulate foreign service officer, having brought laurels to his country during his long and illustrious diplomatic career which took him to different corners of the world.

In his welcome address, Majyd Aziz, ESUP, talked about some of the memorable cricket matches having taken place between Pakistan and Australia over the years. He particularly recalled the Melbourne Test of 1979 when Sarfraz Nawaz had turned the tables around by dismissing seven batsmen for only one run.

The man who had been in the thick of things during that match, having watched that magnificent spell from behind the stumps, Wasim Bari, was also present in the front row of the audience and the former Pakistan captain was duly recognized by the ESUP President at the start of the proceedings.

The interactive session turned out to be an interesting one and the Australian High Commissioner tried to do justice with every query posed to him. 

He pointed out that those desiring to travel to Australia for the Cricket World Cup 2015 will have to submit the normal visa forms and their cases will processed in routine manner.

Abdul Kader Jaffer, Senior Vice President, ESUP, and a former Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, presented the vote of thanks in the typically lively style of his.