PCB STILL AWAITING AN ICC RESPONSE ON JAMES SUTHERLAND’S STATEMENT

The Pakistan Cricket Board's Chief Operating Officer, Subhan Ahmed said on Saturday that they were still waiting for International cricket Council’s reply to the letter the board sent to the apex body over Cricket Australia CEO, James Sutherland’s statement. Sutherland had blamed Pakistan for not doing enough to curb corruption in the international sport.

"The ICC has still not sent us a reply to our letter in which we asked them to inquire into the statement made by James Sutherland recently," told the senior PCB official today.

Subhan said that PCB avoided direct interaction with its Australian counterpart on the matter and wanted the governing body to look into the issue.

The board official reckoned the delay in ICC’s reply might be because of Easter holidays. He said that the Pakistan Cricket Board have taken the comments seriously and have asked the world body to look into the matter.

The Cricket Australia Chief Executive, in a recent interview to a leading Australia newspaper, said he did not believe that the Pakistan Cricket Board had done enough to execute the suggestions proposed by Justice Malik Qayyum and his committee in 2000 on match-fixing in Pakistan cricket.

Sutherland said that, had the Pakistan Cricket Board taken enough measures to root out corruption from its national set-up, the spot-fixing scandal embroiling three Pakistan cricketers, Salman Butt, Mohammad Amirand Mohammad Asif, could have been avoided.

The PCB official said that the Pakistan Board wanted the International Cricket Council to inquire from its Australian counterpart about the comments and find out on what grounds the CA Chief Executive had given the statement.

He said that the PCB had been the most allied ally of ICC in its fight against corruption, so Sutherland’s statement came as a surprise to them.

"The PCB has been in the forefront of fighting corruption in cricket and we have taken measures to discipline players. So Sutherland's statement came as a surprise to us," he said.

The PCB COO said that the board will also take up the matter at ICC’s next meeting scheduled to be held inHong Kong in June this year.

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Pakistan looking to host small ODI series against India in 2011

If there is one thing the Pakistan Cricket fans are looking forward to, it is the reignited series encounter against the Indian Cricket team.
Following an entertaining ICC World Cup 2011 encounter at the semi-final stage, supporters of the sport from the two nations are hoping for another meeting in the coming weeks. This is one of the reasons why Pakistan is keen for a short ODI series, this year.
Talking to the press from Karachi, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Operating Officer, Subhan Ahmed, declared the desire of the country to see the two nations compete again soon.
Eager to kick off bilateral ties in cricket this year, the PCB is trying its best to convince the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to conduct a short series tournament in Pakistan.
"It is not possible to play a full Test series this year that is obvious to us. But we are definitely keen on at least having a three match or five match series sometime this year in Pakistan, or, at a neutral venue to kick off the revival process", he stated.
The BCCI and the PCB are keen to discuss all issues and details, which are scheduled to be discussed in June, 2011.
The only problem that may come up in the arrangement happens to be the tight schedule of the Men in Blue. The PCB, however, is trying to slip in a 10-day plan to put both teams in a series.
Right after the Indian Premier League games, the Men in Blue will be heading over to West Indies and England for two separate tours. Though a series is scheduled between Pakistan and India in 2012, the PCB wants to host one this year, if it is deemed possible.
"What we realize is that the Indian Board is tied up with the Indian Premier League and only after that is over would they also be able to focus on the issue of reviving bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan", Chief Operating Officer, Subhan said.
The PCB Chief Executive Officer further stated that the Board’s first priority is to invite the Indian cricket team to Pakistan for a short series but if that is not possible, neutral venues can be sought out for the event to take place.

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