da supremo： Pakistan announced on Sunday that a tri-nation tournament and a Testseries it planned to host later this year will now be played outside thecountry.
AFP01-Jul-2002Pakistan announced on Sunday that a tri-nation tournament and a Testseries it planned to host later this year will now be played outside thecountry.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ruled out hosting the tri-nation seriesinvolving Australia and New Zealand in August and the Test series withAustralia in October.”The outcome of the ICC [International Cricket Council] meetings, aswell as Director PCB Brigadier Munawwar Rana’s several discussions onthe sidelines of the ICC meeting with President and CEO of theAustralian Cricket Board, is that both tri-series and three-match Testsseries involving Australia would take place at a neutral venue,” a PCBstatement said.Sri Lanka, Kenya, Bangladesh, Tangiers in Morocco, the Gulf and Englandare the likely venues and a final decision is likely to be made bymid-July, the PCB said.The ICC last week ruled out England as one of the options to stagePakistan’s one-day tournament.Australia’s two tours to Pakistan have been thrown in serious doubt overfears of safety for the players in and around Pakistan.New Zealand had to cut short its tour of Pakistan in May after a suicidebomb blast outside their hotel in Karachi. Fourteen people, including 11French naval engineers, were killed in the attack.Another blast outside the United States Consulate earlier this monthleft 11 people killed while security fears persists with severalAl-Qaeda suspects believed to be hiding in Pakistan.”PCB is still pursuing the Aussies to play in Pakistan. Aussies areawaiting clearance from their Foreign Office,” the PCB said.However, the ACB has reportedly yet to receive a positive response fromtheir Foreign office in Pakistan as diplomats from major countries,including Australia, have left the country fearing attacks.According to ICC rulings, a series hit by security problems can bestaged at a neutral venue if both the countries agree.The PCB last week ruled out playing the series in Australia as theircounterparts had offered them only two Tests instead of the scheduledthree in October this year.Cricket has been hit badly in Pakistan since the September 11 attacks inthe US and the crackdown against Al-Qaeda units in Afghanistan sincethen.New Zealand postponed its tour last year only to see the re-arrangedtour cut short by a bomb blast in May this year.Pakistan was forced to play its home series against the West Indies atSharjah in February-March this year after West Indies refused to tourPakistan over security fears.Pakistan’s demands for compensation over losses did not succeed at theICC meeting last week, but PCB claimed the ICC had promised Pakistanadditional one-day matches to recover the losses.