PCB negotiating tour with cricket boards around the world
Pakistan Cricket Board is on the lookout for some “home” cricket for the national team in the next year or so as they speak to Boards around the world in a bid to convince them to either tour the country or play the Pakistan team in a
neutral venue in the next 12-15 months.
The plan for the next year is on paper as the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045, Sri Lanka and England are set to play the Pakistan team in a full series. However the venues have not been finalized since there is hardly any realistic chance of any team
traveling to Pakistan in the prevailing security situation in the country.
The last international series to take place in Pakistan was the ill-fated tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 that was cut short due to the unfortunate terror attack on the foreign team during the second test match at the Qaddafi stadium in Lahore.
The newly appointed Chief Operating Officer of the PCB Subhan Ahmed addressed media men in Karachi where he outlined the Board’s endeavors in various areas.
"As part of the FTP, England has committed to a full tour of three Tests, five ODIs and one T20 in January [2012]." the PCB's chief operating officer said. "But we haven’t decided on a venue yet. The UAE is one of the options at the moment.
They have committed to it as part of the FTP."
"If you look at our FTP for this year, we have such few slots between now and 2012 and where we have slots India is occupied," Ahmed said. "So if an opportunity comes it won't be a full-fledged tour, it might be in a small slot, a short
tour. We are working with all boards on FTP negotiations, including India and wherever we see slots we can fill them in."
He added that a lot needs to be done to convince foreign boards to travel to Pakistan, at the minute the onus is on having junior and A-level tours that are not high profile. This way the players and the administrators can have their confidence
return and they can gradually mull over the idea of a full-fledged tour with senior teams.
"Trying to bring international cricket back to Pakistan is an ongoing process of negotiations that we have with different boards," Ahmed said. "But this process will be gradual. To change perceptions about security we will have to start
with junior tours that will give confidence to other boards and only then can full-fledged tours begin. This process will be slow and a lot will depend on the security situation in Pakistan."
With this in mind, there is the prospect of a visit from a Bangladesh representative team at some point. "With http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 we have initially discussed on a preliminary basis a junior level tour and hopefully something will materialize."
Despite the optimism echoed by the newly appointed COO the task is extremely tough for the PCB that does not have many friends at the international level, there reputation has been further tarnished by the damning match and spot fixing
scandal that rocked Pakistan cricket earlier in the year.
The verdict on the case is awaited as the PCB tries to heal their own wounds by extending full co-operation to the governing body of the game the ICC.
On the other hand they are also hoping that the ICC would help them get more cricket with major cricketing nations like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 cricket.
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