PCB calls off A team’s series against West Indies – Cricket News Update
Following the West Indies Cricket Board’s refusal to send their A team to Pakistan owing to security concerns in the country, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to cancel the series their A team was due to play against their West Indian counterparts.
While the WICB refused to send the Caribbean side to Pakistan for a scheduled reciprocal tour, the board offered to play Pakistan A at a neutral venue such as the UAE. However, the suggestion did not go down well with the PCB.
“... the PCB after giving careful consideration decided that either the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Afghanistan-c745 for an A series earlier without any issues arising.
“The thinking in the board is that if other Test playing nations even refuse to send their second string and under-19 teams to Pakistan and want to play at neutral venues it would not only mean increased expenses but also send out a very negative message to the outside world,” the source added.
Pakistan’s status as a venue for international cricketing events was called into question in March 2009, when the visiting Sri Lankan team found themselves the target of a militant terrorist attack as they made their way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Six members of the national Lankan team were wounded, while six Pakistani policemen and two civilians died, in what proved to be the first attack on a national sports team since the 1972 attack on Israeli athletes by a Palestinian militant group in Munich.
Since the incident, foreign teams have refused to tour the troubled country, and despite repeated attempts on the part of the PCB to bring international cricket back to Pakistan, little progress has been made in the difficult situation. The closest the board came to hosting an international event was a series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747, which was called off after a Dhaka High Court did not allow the board to send the national team to Pakistan.
The Pakistan team has been forced to hold their home series in neutral venues, with the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 being the most preferred option, but the repeated expenses, coupled with little opportunities for generating revenue, have dented the board’s budget considerably, and made the PCB even more eager to revive international cricket in the country.
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