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| October 14, 2001 | Sunday | Rajab 26, 1422 |
Pakistan gathers support
KARACHI, Oct 13: Pakistan has gathered enough support and is confident that most of its proposals would be approved in the forthcoming International Cricket Council meeting, an official said Saturday.
“The Pakistan Cricket Board has done its homework for the ICC meeting. I have personally called the chief executives of other cricket boards and have tried to convince them of our proposals,” PCB director Brigadier Munawwar Rana told SADA.
The ICC meets in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Oct 15-19 to discuss various issues including five proposals from Pakistan. Rana was scheduled to leave for Malaysia Saturday evening to attend both the Executive Board and Cricket Management Committee meetings of the ICC.
“It is good on the part of the ICC to have issued a comprehensive agenda of the meeting and to keep one of our key proposals - to impose financial penalties on teams dishonoring their international commitments - on top of the agenda,” he said.
“The ICC has shown an inclination towards getting this proposal approved as international cricket is being affected.”
The ICC said it would consider a proposal to impose a fine of $2 million on member countries dishonoring commitments and thus violating the ICC’s 10-year Test.
Pakistan suffered a huge financial loss when India refused to play a planned Test and one-day series in Pakistan last year while Pakistan’s home series against New Zealand was canceled due to security fears.
“We think it’s a matter of principle more than the financial losses because when a game’s governing body has chalked out a plan every member country must follow it,” Rana said. “I don’t know in what shape this proposal is approved but I am confident that it will be for the best.”
Pakistan’s other four proposals include one for the formation of a 10-year ICC program for “A” and Junior teams, for umpires’ postings to be based on performance rather than seedings, for batsmen to get a chance to appeal against an umpiring decision, and lastly, for the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FINA) not to be given ICC representation. Rana said that the PCB was thankful to the ICC for showing sympathy towards Pakistan.
“It is kind of the ICC to have given serious thought to Pakistan’s loss in terms of international cricket and to have suggested hosting Pakistan’s matches at neutral venues,” he said.
ICC President Malcolm Gray had said last week that the possibility of holding Pakistan’s international matches on neutral playing fields was being considered in the wake of the political unrest in and around Pakistan.
“But a home series cannot be replicated and the same amount of revenue cannot be generated by playing a series away from home,” Rana said. “When you go abroad and play matches your overheads increase as this involves traveling, stay and other things,” he said.
“Pakistan will definitely think over the offer but nothing has been finalized.—SADA
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