Pakistan is shocked by the pullout

Pakistani newspapers on Sunday reflect anger at the South African cricket authorities' decision to pull out of their upcoming tour at the last minute following a bomb blast in Karachi on Friday.

The news of the cancellation leads the sports pages of the country's main English-language papers.

The Karachi daily The News describes it as "a shocking blow" to Pakistani cricket and shares the indignation of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Ramiz Raja, who it says "rightly reacted with fury" to the South African decision.

It notes that the South African cricket board, the UCBSA, had cited "credible intelligence reports" about security concerns as the reason for the move.

The UCBSA didn't even bother to fathom the consequences of another cancelled tour to Pakistan before announcing their decision The News

"Just where these credible intelligence reports were only three days back when the South Africans confirmed the tour is hard to understand," it complains.

Double standards?

The paper recalls an incident during Pakistan's tour of South Africa in 1998, when two members of the touring party were mugged in Johannesburg - but the PCB had put its relationship with the UCBSA above the players' fears and persuaded them to play on.

"Unfortunately, the UCBSA did not reciprocate and didn't even bother to fathom the consequences of another cancelled tour to Pakistan before announcing their decision," it comments.

The same incident is recalled in another Karachi paper, The Dawn, which takes UCBSA President Ray Mali to task for his "regrettable" remark that security in Pakistan had deteriorated to "an unacceptable level".

Recalling that "sanity prevailed" after the Johannesburg mugging, it offers some advice to Mr Mali:

"Perhaps, the UCB chief should have first assessed the situation in his own country, both now and then, before speaking his mind on such a sensitive issue."

The paper also contrasts the South Africans' "ill-timed decision" with the conduct of Pakistan's current guests - "Bangladesh, the gracious tourists".

'Ridiculous'

In Peshawar, The Statesman leads its coverage with a Johannesburg-datelined dispatch from Reuters news agency, but follows up with its own report highlighting Ramiz Raja's condemnation of the "ridiculous" South African decision.

The cancellation is a big diplomatic failure on the part of government of Pakistan and it speaks volumes of law and order situation in North-West Frontier Province Khyber Mail

The Lahore daily The Nation likewise leads with a Western agency report - from AFP - but the front page of its internet edition also invites readers to vote on the question, "Is South Africa justified to cancel its tour to Pakistan?"

Three choices are given - "Yes", "No" and "Can't say" - and it is the second of these that is highlighted as the default option.

'Failure'

One dissenting note comes from the Khyber Mail in Peshawar - one of the venues that had prompted most concern in South Africa.

While noting the local authorities' "disbelief" at having to get the all-clear from a visiting South African security team before the tour could go ahead, the paper draws a conclusion that is less favourable to the host nation.

"The cancellation of the tour is a big diplomatic failure on the part of government of Pakistan and it speaks volumes of law and order situation in North-West Frontier Province, especially Peshawar," it says.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.