March 12, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429

LAHORE, March 11: Since the Australians have postponed their tour to Pakistan with the consent of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the International Cricket Council (ICC) now has no authority to impose any penalty on either of the two countries.

Sami-ul-Hasan, the ICC spokesman, said in Dubai on Tuesday that according to the rules, if the tour of Australia had been postponed by one party, the ICC’s dispute committee could have taken up the case and imposed a penalty on the one that was responsible for it.

“But as both the countries have made a mutual decision, the ICC has no authority to intervene,” he said.

Sami further said that the ICC still considered Pakistan the host country for the Champions Trophy to be held in September.

“An ICC delegation is to visit Pakistan this month to complete its last tour which had been left incomplete in order to gather some feedback about the Champions Trophy,” he said.

The delegation had cut short their last tour in early November due to the imposition of a state of emergency in the country.