Absolutely awful news from Pakistan this morning. No more needs to be said on how bad the matter is for the people concerned. Pakistani cricket will wither on the vine without the most careful of nurturing, and are those in charge of the national team prepared to eat humble pie (as I will do for questioning players refusing to travel there) and get their games put on where they can have a modicum of home advantage?

It is the plaintive cry of those utterly powerless to those who perpetrate this sort of stuff, but why? What are you gaining by targeting people who bring pleasure and joy to lives. A country that loves its cricket is destroyed by those who look to extinguish any sort of positivity. Why?

I wonder how talents like Younis Khan, Salman Butt, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Danish Kaneria and Faisal Iqbal must feel today. Knowing that in all likelihood they’ll never pull on the green cap with the gold star in their own country again. Icons in their nation, they will be unable to emulate again Imran, Javed, Waqar, Akram, Mushtaq, Saqlain, Inzamam, Yousuf - recent heroes known by a singular name and instantly recognisable – in deeds within their home country. All because… well who knows why?

I hope all the players get over their wounds quickly, the cricket community remember those that gave up their lives in this attack, and that the mental scars aren’t too horrendous. I love cricket, and today cricket has suffered a wound as serious as I could imagine. A cricket world without Pakistan is poorer, and I hope something can be salvaged from this unimaginable mess.