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| August 20, 2008 | Wednesday | Sha’aban 17, 1429 |
Australian players set for boycott
MELBOURNE, Aug 19: Despite the ICC giving the Champions Trophy security the all clear on Tuesday, players from Australia, are set to boycott the upcoming event, local media reported on Wednesday.
The Champions Trophy is scheduled for September 12-28 in troubled Pakistan and ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat claimed on Tuesday in London that safety and security was “satisfactory” after a meeting with officials from the England and Wales Cricket Board.
However, attempts by an ICC delegation attempted to address Cricket Australia’s (CA) concerns over player safety on Friday appear to have failed.
According to The Australian, Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) chief executive Paul Marsh, who was at Friday’s meeting, said the powerful player union could not support Australia’s participation in the event. “The ACA has discussed the situation with its executive and our position is we can’t recommend to our players they should tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy,” Marsh told the paper.
“We feel for the Pakistan Cricket Board and the people of Pakistan but it is the job of the ACA to make recommendations to our members based on whether it is safe to tour. Unfortunately in this case we don’t believe it is safe.”
The Herald-Sun reported that CA spokesman Peter Young CA spokesman Peter Young had said the governing body was awaiting an official ICC report from meetings with other concerned nations — England, South Africa and New Zealand — before making a public announcement.
It said CA chairman Creagh O’Connor, chief executive James Sutherland and ICC president David Morgan held urgent talks in Beijing on Tuesday.
ICC officials were scheduled to meet in Dubai on Wednesday to discuss the prestigious tournament, with all matches scheduled to be played in Karachi and Lahore. One option is to switch the event to Sri Lanka, but time is short and that country has its own security concerns. Australia controversially postponed a full tour of Pakistan earlier this year due to the security situation.— Agencies
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