LAHORE, March 8: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has improved its financial position by almost two times since it took over in November 1999 though no international cricket was played in the year that has just passed.

According to official documents, the present bank balance till February 2002 showed Rs560million in the kitty of the board as compare to Rs360million in November 1999.

The present balance may look smaller, chiefly because Rs200million has already been released for development and upgradation of 51 stadia in the country.

The PCB plans to release the audit report as early as next month. But the major obstacle remains that the audit report of the previous setup has not been completed.

“Until the audit till November 1999 is complete, we can’t proceed forward. But I think we will be able to release financial details by next month,” a PCB official said.

Most of the earnings are through the release of pending 1996 World Cup profits and the television rights signed three years ago. But the establishment has also prospered by nicely marketing the home series against Sri Lanka and England.