Spot-fixing scandal nixed chance for international games in Pakistan: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128
Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman said that the ongoing spot-fixing scandal has put paid to the chances of Pakistan hosting any foreign country in the near future. According to Butt, there
was no time left in the calendar leading up to the World Cup next year to host any of the foreign teams.
Butt said that the chances of a foreign team playing in Pakistan had begun to brighten before the current spot-fixing allegations took the resources off this task.
He said there were plans in the works for either a Melbourne Cricket Club XI or a Zimbabwean team to visit http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 for an international tour but added, “The current spot-fixing scam, however, has diverted
attention to other issues as work of inviting some teams to Pakistan could not be materialised, and there is no appropriate time left for such activities due to hectic schedule of Pakistan till the World Cup.”
The spot-fixing scandal erupted when an English tabloid, the
News of the World published the results of a sensational undercover investigation, which alleged that Pakistani players were taking money to bowl no-balls deliberately to get huge gambling pay-outs for their backers.
Giles http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120, who heads the ICC’s Pakistan Task Force and entrusted with the responsibility of bringing cricket back into the country had earlier said that the signs looked positive for an international team
to play in Pakistan. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 had also offered to tour the country to help raise funds for the flood-ravaged country but none of it will materialise now, according to the chairman of the PCB.
Earlier, foreign teams had started declining the tours of Pakistan after a Sri Lankan side on a tour of Pakistan was attacked by terrorists in Lahore in 2009. In 2008, a decision was taken to strip Pakistan
of their World Cup hosting rights after it was evident that none of the teams wanted to play in Pakistan due to the security situation in the country. Pakistan has played its home games in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754, England and the UAE.
Currently, Pakistan is playing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in what is technically a home series for Pakistan.
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