August 05, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 2, 1429

LAHORE, Aug 4: The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) latest decision to send its task force to Pakistan on Aug 10 instead of Aug 15 for monitoring the security situation for next month’s Champions Trophy has raised a few eyebrows in the cricketing circles.

The task force members were to originally arrive in Pakistan after Aug 15 but the recent change in its schedule has raised some doubts since South Africa — the alternate venue for the mega event — has reportedly asked the ICC to confirm it as the hosts maximum by Aug 15 after which they would not be in a position to make necessary arrangements for the trophy.

Pakistan are to hold the premier event comprising eight top ranked countries from Sept 11-28 for which Sri Lanka and England are also vying as alternates hosts besides South Africa.

Players from Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa have expressed reservations over security situation in Pakistan and clouds of uncertainty continue to hover over the Asian country’s status as Champions Trophy hosts.

The ICC reiterated its decision of retaining Pakistan as hosts last month but it also formed an eight-member task force to monitor the situation in Pakistan.

Soon after the ICC decision, a PCB spokesman had claimed that the visit of the task force would only be possible after Aug 15 which automatically diminished South African’s chances as hosts.

But now with task force’s arrival brought forward by five days, the alrm bells have started to ring for Pakistan. According to ICC’s latest programme sent to the PCB, the task force will be visitng on Aug 10 for a three-day tour during which it will go through all the three venues — Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi.

Meanwhile, sources said England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was also a hot contender for hosting the Champions Trophy as it has assured the ICC of its ability to hold the event on a really short notice.

However, the chances of Sri Lanka - the official alternate venue - of hosting the mega event has considerably diminished due to deteriorating law and order situation in the island.

This must also be mentioned here that one of the three Champions Trohpy venues in Pakistan — the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium — is currently going through massive renovation and is unlikely to be ready for the four matches scheduled to be held there. They are South Africa vs New Zealand; Pakistan vs Australia; England vs New Zealand and England vs South Africa.

Though PCB Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghami, after his recent visit to the Pindi Stadium, had announced that the work would be completed by Aug 20, sources told Dawn that there was no way the stadium could be ready for top class cricket before December 2008. Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad is the alternate venue for the Rawalpindi matches.