KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board’s Chief Executive Wasim Khan has termed the upcoming ICC Chief Executives’ Committee meeting as ‘extremely critical’ as a wide-range of topics will be discussed with the other board members on Thursday.

“The purpose of the meeting is to gain a full understanding of the members’ priorities during this time and to discuss and share the key mitigation factors required to resume international cricket based on the government advice in each territory,” read the ICC press release which was issued on Monday.

Wasim will be representing the PCB at the ICC meeting. “I look forward to making a meaningful contribution,” Wasim was quoted as saying.

With the cricketing activities to have come to a halt because of the Covid-19 pandemic, many cricket boards are facing an uphill task of minimising the financial damage.

“The PCB has recently invested a lot of time in scenario planning and will be sharing its ideas in the meeting. We are also looking forward to learning from other boards,” he said. Among the wide-range of topics that will be on agenda, the integration of fans, financial planning, and bilateral series and ICC events will also be discussed.”

The World T20 is scheduled to be played later this year. But with most of the major sporting activities having been called off, it is yet to see whether the tournament will go ahead as per schedule. The ICC has already said that it was ‘exploring all options’ and would decide the tournament’s fate at an appropriate time.

Wasim has also urged the cricket world to stand united at this difficult hour and said that the meeting would provide the perfect opportunity for it. “Covid-19 has posed an unprecedented situation for the cricket world, which can only be combated with a collective approach,” he said.

He also revealed that the PCB has been maintaining close engagement with most of the ICC members since the Covid-19 outbreak.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2020