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| December 2, 2005 | Friday | Shawwal 29, 1426 |
PCB rules out 6-day Tests against India this winter
LAHORE, Dec 1: Pakistan has ruled out the possibility of six-day Tests against India next year to overcome the problem of bad light reducing the number of overs in matches. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Director of Cricket Operations, Saleem Altaf, said India would play five-day Tests despite the International Cricket Council (ICC) saying it was ready to consider six-day games in Pakistan during the winter.
The current Test series against England has been badly hit by poor light conditions at the end of the day resulting in loss of overs.
“We can talk to the Indian board and have a mutual agreement to have six-day Tests. But it is not practical now since the itinerary has already been finalised,” Saleem said.
“Secondly the tour schedule is already very tight and we are not in a position to have extra days and we don’t think even the Indians would agree to such a proposal at this stage,” he said.
He said, however, that Pakistan would definitely be taking up the issue with the ICC to find a solution to the problem of matches being affected.
Zimbabwe and West Indies are due to tour next November and December, the time of the year when the winter season sets in Pakistan.
“For six-day Tests to be allowed in Pakistan obviously changes will have to be made to the future tours program of the ICC and I don’t see that happening without consent of all other boards and before next year,” he added.
India are scheduled to tour Pakistan from Jan 1 and play Tests in Lahore and Faisalabad, two venues where England have faced problems.
Meanwhile, PCB chairman Shaharyar M. Khan wants his team to play fewer matches against India because he fears interest in one of cricket’s greatest spectacles is being diluted.
Since Pakistan hosted India for the first time in 14 years in March 2004, the teams have played each other on 21 occasions.
With another full India tour to Pakistan next month and then the Asia Cup, there is a danger of overkill.
“We are playing too much against India,” Shaharyar said. “Last year we played India 12 times so the sparkle has gone out of the series but one has to contend with the requests of fellow boards. We are killing the goose that laid the golden egg.”
The PCB chief has expressed his concerns to Jagmohan Dalmiya, former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and still an influential figure.
The PCB neared bankruptcy in the years when countries were reluctant to tour Pakistan after the Sept 11 attacks on the US but has since generated about $22 million through television rights and sponsorship. The five one-day matches raised $1.5 million in ticket sales alone.
The PCB chief revealed that several offers to pitch the two arch-rivals together had been rejected, even though large sums of money are involved.
“We keep getting requests to play India at all sorts of venues, like Toronto and Houston and they say half the money will go to some players association or charity,” he said.
“Quite frankly we are reluctant to play these matches because we have been playing India too much and it will take the charm away from the India-Pakistan rivalry if we go on playing each other 15 times a year.
“I kept trying to persuade Jaggu (Dalmiya) that we should not schedule so many matches but he is a man who likes to have the matches on and keep the pennies rolling in, but we do have a very good relationship with the Indian board.”
The coming series, when India are set to play three Tests and five One-day Internationals, will even things up in terms of visits stretching back to Pakistan’s tour of India in 1999.
“Although we don’t know what’s going to happen with the ICC’s tour cycle yet — whether it will stay at five years or become six years —I would like to see us play each other every two years like with the Ashes,” he said.
“That is almost certainly what will happen. We need to treat our series in the same way as England and Australia treat theirs. If we do that there will then be no danger of overkill and it will maintain the fervour that we associate with these matches.”—Reuters
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