December 24, 2002	Tuesday	Shawwal 19, 1423

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KARACHI, Dec 23: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Monday it had received written confirmation from both South Africa and Bangladesh that they would tour the country next year.

Home Test series against the West Indies and Australia have been relocated to neutral venues this year after both teams refused to visit because of security concerns in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks on the United States last year.

New Zealand also returned home without completing their short tour in April-May after a bomb blast outside their hotel left 12 people dead.

But the PCB said South Africa and Bangladesh had signalled their willingness to tour from September to November next year, when they are due to play three Tests each and a triangular one-day tournament.

“It is positive news for Pakistan cricket, which has suffered a lot because of the refusal of teams to play here because of security concerns,” PCB chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia said.

“The confirmation from these two teams shows that Pakistan’s effort to convince the cricket world that it is safe to play in Pakistan, in conjunction with the International Cricket Council (ICC), has paid off,” he said.

“The visit by the ICC delegation to Pakistan earlier this month I think has played a major role in clearing doubts over the security situation in Pakistan. The ICC basically has cleared Pakistan of being a security hazard for touring teams.”

ICC president Malcolm Gray visited Pakistan in December, meeting President Pervez Musharraf and calling upon international teams to resume playing in Pakistan.

“At the moment we don’t have any problems in hosting the scheduled series against Bangladesh and South Africa,” Tauqir said.

“But it is the India’s scheduled tour in April which is bothering us. And the uncertainty surrounding it is more due to politics then security reasons.”

India has not played Pakistan since May 2000 claiming the Pakistan government sponsors cross border terrorism in the disputed region of Kashmir, a charge Pakistan denies.—Reuters