Thaindian News

Melbourne, Mar 5 (ANI): Australian umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Davis, who were officiating in the drawn Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, have said they can”t believe that they are still alive after the Lahore terror attack.

Taufel arrived home in Sydney this morning, two days after being caught in the attack on the Sri Lankan team bus on the way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Pakistan for the third day of the second Test.

The world’’s number one umpire said he was still unsure how he and colleagues Chris Broad and Davis survived the incident unhurt, while their driver was killed and reserve umpire Ahsan Rasa seriously injured.

The match officials” minibus was travelling behind the Sri Lanka team bus when heavily armed gunmen attacked both.

“Obviously our van was caught in a situation where we were heavily exposed. On Tuesday morning we were caught in a war … It’’s just a bloody game of cricket, not a war. It’’s not the way the way life should be or sport should be,” Taufel said.

Taufel joined match referee Chris Broad and Davis in saying many questions had to be answered about why the officials were left “stranded and helpless” as bullets slammed into their van.

Fellow Aussie umpire Davis also criticised security arrangements, saying his van, which was behind the Sri Lankan team bus, was left without any security when it was being fired upon.

“There’’s a bit of anger there that we were let down. We had all sorts of assurances before and I”m sure the team feels that way too,” Davis told reporters at Melbourne Airport.

“Despite all that, this was still able to happen and we were put in a very vulnerable position and felt very helpless,” he added. (ANI)