LAHORE: The two-day visit of Giles Clarke, chairman of the ICC Task Force on revival of international cricket in Pakistan, will be confined to Lahore as the plan to visit Islamabad to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been scrapped due to non-availability of the premier on Jan 28 and 29.

Dawn has learnt that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wanted Clarke to meet the premier but it isn’t possible due to the latter’s pressing engagements.

Clarke, however, will meet Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, besides getting extensive briefing from the provincial home department and the PCB over the prevailing security situation in the country. A security official of the ICC will also be accompanying Clarke.

The PCB and the provincial home department have chalked out a comprehensive programme to brief Clarke as his positive recommendations will serve Pakistan’s purpose at ICC in reviving international cricket, which is currently suspended due to security concerns of the foreign teams.

Although the ICC formed the Task Force in 2009, it has failed in accomplishing something big and in fact this is Clarke’s first visit as chairman of the Task Force.

He was to visit Pakistan in April last year but it was postponed due to security concern.

There are however reports that the postponement camer after the PCB expressed its financial inability to host the Commonwealth cricket team, which Clarke wanted to bring here.

Clarke will address a news conference on the first day of his visit on Saturday.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2017