With Cricket Sri Lanka indulging in a yes-no-yes-no call, there is bound to be confusion at the other end.

In cricketing parlance, it is a recipe for disaster. That Pakistan happens to be at the receiving end is unfortunate, but that is what it is.

Once the tour was officially confirmed by Sri Lanka, the local fans were rightly looking forward to some quality stuff in the days ahead. Coming against the backdrop of a barren 2008, it was a matter of some relief that Pakistan cricket was to start the New Year on a positive note by playing host to a team of decent stature. But the change of heart and mind on a daily basis in Sri Lanka means we are still not quite sure which way the proverbial cookie would crumble.

But at least we are talking cricket. This gives one some hope to live with after the Indian refusal to come over. It was not without reason that PCB Director-General Jawed Miandad publicly expressed gratitude to the Lankans after they agreed to fill in.

There have been consistent rumours doing the round about third-party influence being exerted on the Lankans not to go ahead with the tour. The dismissal of the ad hoc body under former captain Arjuna Ranatunga soon after he had accepted the PCB proposal had set the alarm bells ringing.

It almost coincided with the initial reaction of the International Cricket Council (ICC) which was quite baffling. While the Lankans did not have an issue with security assurances tabled by Pakistan, it was the ICC that wanted to send its own mission to assess whether or not to appoint match officials for the series. This was an unprecedented move on the part of the world body; unprecedented both in terms of technicality and absurdity. It was good that sanity prevailed within the ICC setup.

Seeing the two moves together, there was no dearth of people who could locate a ‘foreign hand’ pulling certain strings to isolate Pakistan. Even when the Lankan president cleared the team’s tour of Pakistan, and the foreign minister announced the decision in as many words, there were still reports of the Indian foreign minister doing his best to manoeuvre a turnaround. One wonders if such reports had anything to do with the sudden and rather late realisation by Sri Lanka’s authorities of player fatigue.

While things off the field are taking time to settle down, it is time for the cricket administration and the players to start concentrating on what they plan to do on the field of play because, by the looks of it, the Lankans will undertake the tour albeit with a changed itinerary.

The recent difference of opinion between coach Intikhab Alam and chief selector Abdul Qadir -- and their inability to sort it out between the two of them -- is not a particularly encouraging sign of what we are doing in the name of preparations. Streamlining domestic cricket and making it count has been one of the cornerstones of the new management and overlooking individual performances during the last season would be contradictory to all its pronouncements in this regard. To organise specific pre-selection matches would render a performance on the domestic circuit good enough only for making an appearance in the trial matches; not for a national selection itself.

With the PCB administration struggling on such a minor and obvious matter, it is anybody’s guess if it is in a position to take some smart policy decisions right now. For instance, it is apparently a good time to have a second thought about the PCB’s earlier decision to ban all players who have signed up for the Indian Cricket League. Will the PCB consider the option? One doubts.

The logic is quite simple. The players had been banned only -- repeat, only -- because the PCB did not want to upset its Indian counterparts who had their own IPL to protect. Now, when India has openly and blatantly been working against Pakistani interests -- refusing to tour, doing whatever it could to influence the Lankans not to tour, and there being hardly a chance of Pakistanis making an appearance in the next edition of the Indian Premier League -- there is a good enough reason to reconsider our stance towards players contracted with the ICL.

The appearance of former captain Moin Khan, who is a key ICL official, as coach of the PIA side taking part in the domestic Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, did cause ripples in the local media, but it was no infringement of the PCB policy which has zero tolerance towards players without saying anything about officials. It is time the PCB did away with this false dichotomy and allowed the players to vie for a place in the national squad on merit. The PCB has a logical case to decide what is in the best national interest, but thus far it has shown little inclination to make a move.

On getting elevated to his current post, Miandad did query the rationale behind the policy, but has since preferred to keep mum. With as many as 19 players -- some of them far better than the ones who have filled in for them -- contracted to the ICL, it is time to speak out. Better still, it is time to do something.

The inclusion of senior players and the subsequent strength of the squad will make for an appetising encounter against Sri Lanka that will also pull in the crowds. With big time cricket expected to make a return to the country, it will be good to field a full-strength side. The Lankans -- if they do keep their word -- will surely be doing us a favour, as has been rightly admitted by Miandad himself. There is no harm in doing a favour to ourselves by offering them a worthwhile opposition.