Events on schedule, venues undecided

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Thursday said the two forthcoming events were on but was unsure whether it would be played at home or on a neutral territory.

Pakistan is to host a tri-nation one-day series between Aug 27 and Sept 7 with New Zealand and Australia being the participating teams. Later it hosts Australia for a three-Test series between Oct 1 and 24.

The chairman of the PCB Lt Gen Tauqir Zia said from Rawalpindi over telephone that he was optimistic that the competitions would be held in the country as planned. But at the same time he admitted that if the situation didn't improve or the participating teams expressed reservations in visiting Pakistan, he would be left with no option but to shift the events to a neutral venue.

"I don't like to see events being cancelled or postponed because they would hamper our team's preparation for the World Cup which is just round the corner. The tournament and the series would be held and only worse come to worse on a neutral venue," Tauqir said, adding: "I will try to sustain financial losses but can't afford to leave the team cricket starved."

There are question marks over New Zealand's return visit, particularly after they witnessedWednesday's devastation that left 14 killed and 22 injured less than 50 metres from their hotel.

Australia has said it was monitoring the situation before taking a decision. But the ACB last month refused to play Zimbabwe on a neutral venue following riots in the African country.

"The government is taking a series of security measures which will put things under control. We can guarantee players security but I don't think any country can promise that there will not be suicidal attacks. I mean what happened yesterday could have happened anywhere.

"I understand the decision taken by New Zealand Cricket and cannot blame them for aborting the tour. But if the situation is reversed, I would have consulted my players before deciding on the tour. And I would have done that because my players are used to violence though the bomb attack was something they had never encountered before," Tauqir said.

Tauqir pointed Dhaka and Sharjah as the standby venues and further said Morocco cannot be ruled out of contention. He said the three-nation tournament in the Tangier city and involving Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka has been confirmed between Aug 12 and 21.

West Indies forced Pakistan to play on a neutral venue of Sharjah in February when they refused to tour because of security concerns.

Tauqir hoped that New Zealand and Australia will confirm their decisions to tour Pakistan during next month's International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting at Lord's.

"The Lord's meeting is now very significant as far as we are concerned because we will have to repeat the same drill and try to convince the world to tour Pakistan. Of course, it seems an uphill task at the moment because the world thinks otherwise.

"I feel very down, disgusted and embarrassed for whatever happened. All our efforts went down the drain," he said.

The PCB had made excellent efforts and fulfilled all promises only be left in a situation which was far beyond their control. He, however, stressed that players security was paramount and all possible measures needed to be taken for their safety. "I fully endorse calls for players safety which is on the top of the priority of every board."

Tauqir said he would like to compensate the players for the losses they suffered following the cancellation of the second Test. But he added that first the PCB needed to evaluate its financial position.

"If we are in loss from this series, naturally the players will have to share some of the losses. But if we have earned something, the players will get their share.

Tauqir said he had summoned his marketing man and the treasurer on May 13 in Rawalpindi where the financial situation would be assessed and evaluated.