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| March 12, 2008 | Wednesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429 |
Decision leaves PCB chief disappointed
ISLAMABAD, March 11: While rejecting the option of playing on a neutral venue, Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday expressed his dismay over Australia’s decision to postpone their national squad’s scheduled tour to Pakistan, despite the host board’s foolproof security assurances.
Addressing a press conference here, he said CA communicated its decision early on Tuesday to the PCB.
On the alternate arrangement, Dr Nasim said, CA chief had forwarded two options — pick a neutral venue or scrap the tour.
The PCB refused both arguing that a neutral venue could be very damaging for Pakistan cricket in the long run, rejecting the impression that the board would look for a neutral venue.
On scraping the tour, Dr Nasim said: “We also rejected the second option and opted for the tour’s postponement,” he asserted, adding that new dates for the series will be discussed at the ICC Executive Board meeting on March 16-17 where chiefs of both the boards will be discussing the issue.
About security concerns to any cricket playing nation, the chairman stated that he had said in the past that Zimbabwe, South Africa and West Indies also visited Pakistan, insisting the visiting teams had faced no safety issues.
He further said: “We’ve always been in touch with the Ministry of Interior and security officials to further beef up security for the Australian squad.”
He added that the Pakistan High Commission in Canberra had also given its positive note to the Australian government to go ahead with their tour of Pakistan.
When asked why the CA hasn’t sent their security team to Pakistan for security inspection, he responded that it was their personal decision, without elaborating.
However, he stated, Pakistan would host the ICC Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup as per schedule later this year.
Regarding the likely insurance issues, the PCB will face because of postponement of the Australian series, he said the matter will be taken up at the board of governors meeting on March 22.
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