January 01, 2009	Thursday	Muharram 03, 1430

LAHORE, Dec 31: The outcome of the negotiations between Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on certain terms and conditions for the proposed series in Pakistan has been delayed for another couple of days, an official said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday the SLC was to confirm the Pakistan tour, proposed to start from Jan 20 but it had deferred it till Wednesday and now the matter has again been delayed for another couple of days.

“We are still negotiating with the SLC on different terms and conditions and it will take another couple of days,” PCB Director Cricket Operations International Zakir Khan told Dawn.

The PCB had invited the SLC for a full series soon after India refused to send their team to Pakistan for a scheduled series starting from Jan 4 in the aftermath of the Mumbai incident. The SLC accepted the offer and the tour was also approved by Sri Lankan president.

However, according to some recent reports, the SLC and the PCB are yet to agree on the series dates. While the PCB has proposed its Sri Lankan counterpart to start the tour from Jan 20, the SLC is interested to begin the visit from Feb 15.

To accommodate the SLC request, the PCB will have to change Pakistan’s already-planned tour of Bangladesh in March.

However, sources have said that as the Sri Lanka series is important for Pakistan to revive international cricket on its soil for top teams which have expressed their security concerns, the PCB is likely to accept the SLC request.

In this regard, the PCB has also contacted the Bangladesh Cricket Board to adjust the dates for their home series against Pakistan.