KARACHI, April 18: A 32-member cricket team of Indian street children is arriving on a 10-day 'Cricket for Peace 2004' tour of the country on Tuesday. The tape-ball cricket tour is being organized by a United Kingdom-based NGO, ActionAid , through its offices in India and Pakistan, in collaboration with their partner NGOs, Leapfrog (India), Insaan Foundation (Lahore) and SPARC (Islamabad).

The visitors will begin their five-match series with a match in Lahore. Other matches will be played in Kasur, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Larkana and Karachi. The first match will be between the Indian and Pakistani teams, while in the rest of the matches each team will have players from both the countries, to promote peace, cooperation and sportsmanship.

The much talked about spirit of sportsmanship, upholding tolerance and accommodation, leads to peace, says ActionAid representative Adam Malik adding that the troubled history of relations between Pakistan and India mirrors that whenever tension between the two countries escalates, sports, particularly cricket, are badly hit.

He said that peace and sports, particularly cricket, go together. The Indian team will be travelling by land in order to meet more people and cover more places.