KARACHI, Oct 4: Pakistan women’s cricket team skipper Urooj Mumtaz Khan and coach, former cricketer Umer Rashid, have registered their disappointment over the postponement of the West Indies series that was to take place in Karachi and Hyderabad from Oct 18.

The West Indies women cricketers, as a part of their Asian tour, were to play five One Day Internationals and three Twenty20 matches in Karachi and Hyderabad but called off the tour due to their security concerns after the Sept 20 bombing at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

While talking to Dawn on Saturday, Pakistan’s all-rounder captain Urooj said that the postponement was “very, very sad” for all the team members. “We are to play two world events next year — the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in Australia in March and the Twenty20 World Championship in England in June — and we desperately needed some good foreign team exposure before that. The West Indies visit was an answer to the problem and we are really very disappointed that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) changed its mind about sending the team here.”

About their alternative plans, Urooj said: “As we were hearing things about security concerns and the tour likely to be called off after the West Indies team manager Carol Wilby-Maxwell was quoted saying last week that there was ‘potential danger’ in coming here, I had a meeting with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials before returning from the national camp in Lahore on Sept 29.

“They are certainly looking for alternatives but at the moment I can’t say much about that. But I am told that we’ll know by next week. For now I can only remain hopeful of some good decision from the board.”

Meanwhile, team coach Umer Rashid said: “The girls are disappointed, naturally. They have been working hard in preparation for next year’s mega events and were keen to play against the West Indies this month.

“The series was part of our five-month preparation programme chalked out to overcome the weaknesses encountered by the team during the Asia Cup in May. Anyway, the situation has to be tackled somehow if we remain consistent. The girls basically need to improve their strike rate. The domestic quadrangular Twenty20 series in Karachi in July was of some help in that regard as was a recent series with under-16 boys from the Lahore Grammar School and Shafqat Rana Academy in Lahore. Still, there is a need for continuity,” he explained.

Camp for the West Indies series was to commence from Sunday (Oct 5) but it too had to be postponed under the circumstances. “We’ll know in a day or two what the board decides in order to provide the girls with proper practice before the World Cup. Perhaps the West Indies would like to visit on some later date,” said the coach trying to sound optimistic.

WICB chief executive Donld Peters, meanwhile, has said he would support their team if they have second thoughts about going to Pakistan. Keeping their plans for a five-match ODI series with Sri Lanka, the West Indies team will now be traveling directly to Sri Lanka as scheduled on Nov 5.