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| August 27, 2006 | Sunday | Sha'aban 2, 1427 |
England dump contingency plans after PCB assurance
LONDON, Aug 26: England have ditched their contingency plans following Pakistan's assurance they will fulfil the one-day obligations of their tour, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive David Collier confirmed on Saturday.
The ECB had begun formulating plans to play against an International X1 should Pakistan pull out of Monday's Twenty20 international following the furore caused by the final Test ball-tampering row, while West Indies had been set to fill in for the one-day series.
However, following Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan's confirmation to both English counterpart David Morgan and the International Cricket Council the ECB have shelved thoughts of back-up opposition.
Pakistan will complete their tour as scheduled despite captain Inzamam-ul-Haq's disciplinary hearing for alleged ball-tampering and disrepute charges during the fourth Test being delayed.
And they re-affirmed their commitment to the one-day series following Friday's revelation that umpire Darrell Hair offered to resign in return for $500,000 in the wake of last weekend's debacle at The Oval.
The tourists believe Hair's e-mail to the ICC represents a “moral victory” for them and that it strengthens Inzamam's case.
“We were very confident that we hadn't tampered with the ball,” team manager Zaheer Abbas told the BBC Asian Network.
Collier said: “Our contingency plan has now been stood down following the unequivocal commitment from the PCB to fulfil the remainder of the tour and we now look forward to an exciting NatWest international Twenty20 at Bristol on Monday and the five-match NatWest Series.”
The ECB chief thanked the cricket community for their willingness to help if Pakistan had abandoned the tour, which would have cost their body an estimated 10 million pounds ($19 million).
“ECB has received outstanding support and co-operation from full member nations and counties.
“In particular I wish to express our gratitude to the West Indies Cricket Board, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and Glamorgan County Cricket Club in addition to our sponsors and broadcasters for their fulsome support of ECB's contingency plan which was actioned to ensure that we could guarantee matches throughout the NatWest Series for spectators, television viewers and radio listeners.
“ECB also wishes to thank the 12 players who had agreed to play in the International XI and the management team who had been invited to support the International XI.”—AFP
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