“In case we don’t reach a cost effective deal with the Sri Lankan board, South Africa is the other alternate neutral venue for us,” confirmed Subhan Ahmed, PCB’s chief operating officer.
The proposed series will involve four one-day internationals and three T20Is. The original plan was to use Sri Lanka as the venue for the series. Officials from both the PCB and SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket) confirmed that talks were underway. However, a deal has not been finalized as yet.
“In principle we have decided to hold the series against Australia in August in Sri Lanka but we are negotiating with the Sri Lankan board for a favourable deal,” explained Ahmed.
“The venues in Sri Lanka where we will hold the matches will be decided soon. The Australians have also not expressed any reservations over playing in Sri Lanka.”
The Men In Green last hosted a series in March 2009, which culminated in the visiting Sri Lankan team becoming the victims of a terrorist attack. Six Pakistani policemen and a van driver lost their lives in the incident, and several players from the visiting team were injured. Since then, Pakistan has been deemed unsafe for countries to tour, forcing the PCB to host series in neutral venues, usually the UAE, where they currently played against England.
However, with the series against the Aussies scheduled for August, the conditions in the UAE have been deemed far too hot, owing to which the board has been forced to consider other options, among them Sri Lanka and South Africa.
In addition to hosting series at neutral venues, the PCB has also been attempting to bring international cricket back to Pakistan. A proposal to host Bangladesh for a series initially looked promising, but came to an abrupt halt when the ICC refused to send their match officials to the country owing to security concerns, despite having agreed to grant the series official endorsement. The fate of the proposed series is yet to be decided.
0 comments:
Post a Comment