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| October 10, 2005 | Monday | Ramzan 5, 1426 |
England tour on: PCB official
KARACHI, Oct 9: England will undertake their cricket tour of Pakistan as scheduled — despite Saturday’s earthquake that has resulted in more than 19,000 dead and scores injured — according to a cricket board official on Sunday.
Asad Mustafa, Pakistan Cricket Board’s general manager logistics, was optimistic on Sunday that England would arrive in Pakistan as expected on Oct 26 on a 57-day trip that features three Tests and five One-day Internationals besides three warm-up matches.
“At this stage the tour is on,” Asad told Dawn from Lahore. “In the last 24 hours we have not heard anything from the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) regarding any change in the England’s tour plans in the aftermath of the great disaster.
“But we are hopeful that, God willing, everything on the tour front will be sorted out by the time England land in Rawalpindi.”
Asad further said that the PCB is anxiously monitoring the situation in the affected areas, with the possibility of aftershocks over the next couple of days.
England, who have already shunned Karachi as Test venue on the forthcoming tour because of security concerns, will stay in Rawalpindi for a better part of first week of the trip during which they will play a three-day warm-up match against a PCB XI.
The tourists then travel to Lahore for another warm-up fixture before the first Test in Multan starts on Nov 12. The remaining two Tests are slated for Faisalabad (Nov 20-24) and Lahore (Nov 29-Dec 3).
The one-day series kick off in Lahore from Dec 10 with the second match also scheduled at the Qadhafi Stadium on Dec 12. Karachi hosts the third One-day International on Dec 15 before the English bandwagon winds up its tour with the last two one-dayers in Rawalpindi on Dec 19 and 21, respectively.
Apart from the cricketers, a large contingent of English supporters is also expected to visit Pakistan to boost the tourists. Popularly known as the ‘Barmy Army’, has been taking keen interest in the Pakistan tour after England’s first Ashes series win over Australia in 16 years.
On Saturday, the four-day match between Pakistan XI and Peshawar Panthers in Peshawar was abandoned after the first day’s play in the wake of tremors in the surrounding areas.
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