Attack on Sri Lankan cricketers will not stop the IPL

Whatever the future, cricket lost what was left of its innocence when the gunmen opened fire near the Gaddafi stadium and the number of security personnel who fired back, in defence of the Sri Lankan players and match officials, was suspiciously few, writes Scyld Berry in the Sunday Telegraph.

Doubts were expressed last week about the second IPL taking place. But Muttiah Muralitharan, due to play with Andrew Flintoff for Chennai Super Kings, joked that he is "going to wear a bulletproof jacket for future journeys on team buses". All the Sri Lankans signed for the IPL will, at this stage, go to India – Thilan Samaraweera, the most badly injured, is not contracted – because they believe security in India will be far tighter than in Pakistan.

Near a place called Liberty Square last Monday, sport lost its freedom. The devastating attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team in Lahore will change the terms of engagement for players and spectators for as long as terrorism exists. Sadly, it threatens to stretch generations into the distance, way beyond the horizon of the foreseeable future, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent on Sunday.

As the news of the horrific terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan reached the England team on tour in the West Indies it was impossible to avoid the feeling that though the game will survive, everything will be different as a result, wrist Steve James in the Sunday Telegraph.

How realistic is the prospect of all forms of the international game being played in the Gulf region? asks Jamie Jackson in the Observer.