September 4, 2003	Thursday	Rajab 6, 1424

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MULTAN, Sept 3: There was off-field drama on the opening day of the final Test when the teams arrived at the Multan Cricket Stadium only to find out that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had terminated its contract with the official caterers.

As a result of this unexpected late development, there was chaos prevalent at the ground during the first half of the day as the PCB’s high command tried to cover up for the mess created by its decision, which was taken around midnight on Tuesday.

According to details gathered by Dawn, the real cause of this mismanagement was a last minute disagreement over rates to be charged from the PCB for the services and food provided by the caterers.

A PCB official said that the teams were unhappy with the standard of food that was to be provided during the match.

“We have no alternative but to end our contract with the caterers for two main reasons. Firstly, they were charging us an exorbitant amount. And secondly, the quality of the food was poor as far as the players were concerned,” the official explained.

It took a while for the PCB to make alternative arrangements before sanity was restored and it is an irony though that the teams and officials are lodged at the same hotel which was supposed to provide the catering services at the stadium!