COLOMBO, July 24: Pakistan will host next Asia Cup in 2006 between October and December even as Asian Cricket Council (ACC) said it had decided to revive the Asian Test Championship from next year onwards to give a boost to the game in the region.

Ashraful Haq, the ACC chief executive, said on Saturday they had planned that Asian Test Championship and Asia Cup will be continued till 2010 so that one of these events falls in a cricket calendar every year.

The only problem ACC faces about organising Asian Test Championships is the block date of 45 days in a year in which all top nations of the region are free from their international commitments.

The 10-year fixtures programme of International Cricket Council is a spanner to this vision as the busy calendar hardly leaves free time for four Test-playing nations in the Asian sub-continent.

Ashraful was hopeful they could work around the scheduling to make Asian Test Championship a regular feature.

As far as venues are concerned, ACC CEO foresees a situation where Asia Cup would be taken around the lesser nations of the continent in years to come to promote the game in the region.

It could thus be the turn of countries like Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Nepal to host Asia Cup in future.

Haq said ACC would request the ICC to incorporate results of Asian Test Championships in its yearly rating, so that it could reflect on the progress of Test-playing nations from the region.

ACC was also planning to give television rights on the basis of bids to any one of the interested channels till 2010.

ACC will host its general body meeting in Colombo on Aug 1 where among other things, the matter of distribution of money to participating teams will also be decided.

It is learnt both UAE and Hong Kong will receive $100,000 each for participating in the tournament. The rest of the amount will be distributed between the four Test-playing nation.-Agencies