September 21, 2008	Sunday	Ramazan 20, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 20: An anxious Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is keeping its fingers crossed on a planned tour by West Indies, who are yet to give their consent on playing in the Asian country.

Pakistan cricket authorities have to wait until the end of this month to find out if the West Indies will agree to tour Pakistan in November to play two Tests.

The PCB has invited the West Indies Cricket Board to send their team for two Tests immediately after both countries play ODI series in Abu Dhabi.

A senior PCB official said that the Board was still waiting for a response from their West Indian counterparts.

“As far as we know the chief executive of the West Indies board is out of office until next week and we are not expecting a final answer until the end of this month,” he said.

The West Indies board has said that it would talk to its players association and get their consent before arriving on any decision.

The PCB official said the board was also working on another plan to arrange a series with New Zealand but since all teams are pre-committed to the ICC Future Tours Programme, the board realised it was not easy to arrange the series at a short notice.

“But we are giving it our best shot because after the postponement of the Australia’s Test tour and the Champions Trophy our players are desperate to play some international cricket,” he stated.—Agencies