Mohsin Sheikh never thought international cricketers would find themselves the targets of terrorist attacks, no matter how dangerous things got in Pakistan.
He was wrong.
Sheikh, a former coach of the Pakistan under-19 team, who now works for Cricket ACT, was stunned yesterday to learn of the horror in his home country.
While he had been only too aware of how explosive Pakistan's political environment was, Sheikh had thought his people's love of cricket meant touring teams were untouchable.
''The people in Pakistan have always had a very strong following of cricket, so no matter what the terrorist situation would be, I've always believed they wouldn't attack the game or the players,'' Sheikh said.
''Cricket has mass support and people follow it so much that you would never think they would do that, because it would just turn everyone's hatred towards the terrorists straight away.
''The situation got quite bad while I was there at one stage, but even then cricketers were never a target.
''They were never in jeopardy to be in a bomb attack or anything.''
Sheikh, who was born in the Pakistan province of Faisalabad, hasn't returned to his home country since moving to Canberra in October 2007.
He and his wife, Asma, whose parents live in Lahore where the attack was carried out, had planned to return to Pakistan to visit relatives in April. But after the attack he said they were now likely to fly family to Australia instead.
Sheikh phoned his parents last night and said they had been stunned by the attack. ''My family is all fine, my father is a cricket lover and he was getting ready to watch the cricket when it happened.
''He was set to watch the game on the telly when all of a sudden he heard the news that this had happened.
''He was in denial, he still can't believe it.
''Everyone in Pakistan is absolutely shocked with the attack, no one expected a sporting team to get attacked.''
Sheikh, who also coaches Indian Premier League champions the Rajasthan Royals, feared the attack could destroy cricket in the strife-torn country.
''This will hurt massively.
''There's just no comparison, it's not only going to affect the domestic scene, it's going to affect the international game.
''Already teams were not going there ... after this I just fear for international cricket in Pakistan for a long time.''
Also in shock over the attacks yesterday was former Sri Lanka assistant coach Trevor Penney, now based in Perth.
Penney, who served under Tom Moody at Sri Lanka from 2005-07, said cricket in Pakistan would never be the same.
''I know the players have lived in a country where there's been bombings and stuff like that and all these terrorist groups haven't really targeted cricketers up until now.
''So this has come as a big shock to the cricketing world.
''The biggest shame is for the public in Pakistan. They're like the Indians, they just love their cricket, it's the national sport.
''There's no other sport like cricket and now they're not going to watch cricket in their home country.
''In Pakistan there haven't been many tours recently and the Sri Lankans are one of only a few teams that would travel there.
''I know having worked there [in Sri Lanka] that wherever there was a tour on we would go, so I think they might learn from that, the Sri Lankan board, that you don't just send a team anywhere.
''The security is very, very tight all over the world now in cricketing circles so this is a bit of a shock that this has happened.''
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