da winzada777： Pakistan Tuesday said it has agreed to shift its forthcomingseries against West Indies to Sharjah but added that itwould lodge a protest to the game’s ruling bodyInternational Cricket Council (ICC)
da esoccer bet： Samiul Hasan09-Jan-2002Pakistan Tuesday said it has agreed to shift its forthcomingseries against West Indies to Sharjah but added that itwould lodge a protest to the game’s ruling bodyInternational Cricket Council (ICC).”We have accepted West Indies demands of playing at aneutral venue. But that doesn’t mean we agree with them. Iwill write to the ICC and probably will also talk to MalcolmGray Wednesday,” chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) Lt Gen Tauqir Zia told Dawn from Rawalpindi.He added:”I am bitterly disappointed because I feel that theconditions in Pakistan are perfectly normal and peaceful. Ialso believe a wrong precedence is being set.”The series at neutral venue will be played in February andwill comprise two Tests and three one-day internationals. Nowarm-up games will be slated in the revised itinerary whichwill be released in due course of time. A Test has beenreduced to curb the financial losses.It will be the third time in the 123-year history of Testcricket that Tests would be played on neutral territory. In1911, South Africa and Australia played in England whilePakistan and Sri Lanka contested the 1999 Asian TestChampionship final at Dhaka.Nevertheless, Tauqir stressed it was a one-time decision andshouldn’t been taken as first priority by any board.”I would not play against Australia (in September) onneutral territory. We agreed to Sharjah this time because wewere running out of time. Had we delayed the decision, itwould have compounded problems relating to logistics,sponsorships and television rights.”The PCB supremo admitted that he had also considered theoption of cancelling the series against the once mighty WestIndies who are now the whipping boys of internationalcricket.”Yes, I did think over cancelling the series. But then itwould have spoiled our good relations with the West Indiesboard,” he said.He revealed that he took the decision after consultingPresident General Pervez Musharraf who is also the Patron ofthe PCB.”I discussed the issue at length with him. He gave me theauthority to take the decision which I thought would be inthe best interest of Pakistan cricket,” the General said.Tauqir said he made a last ditch effort Sunday to pursue hisWest Indies counterpart Wes Hall to change his stance. “Butthe WICB remained apprehensive about security.”I know that I will not be able to make much from thisseries. But then something is better than nothing. My teamis starving for international cricket.”The West Indies board had made a flimsy excuse in October1999 when they cancelled a scheduled tour saying theirplayers were committed to appear in a domestic competition.The recent WICB demand makes little sense in the backgroundthat England have agreed to play an extra one-dayinternational in India despite the fact that bordersituation between the two countries was at its lowest ebb.”Surprisingly, they are not scared of the tension betweenPakistan and India. Their main concern remains Afghanistanand Osama Bin Laden who, they think, was a threat since hehas not been arrested,” he said.The PCB had guaranteed West Indies players as much securityguarantee as any host board could possibly give. It isdeplorable that the WICB didn’t trust its counterpart whichhas never raised security concerns wherever it plays.”I am still willing to play India anywhere. And when I sayanywhere, it means even in India,” he said.Tauqir said Pakistan would send his own curators sometimethis week to prepare pitches.Sharjah has hosted 181 one-day internationals. But has neverorganized a first-class match.Reuters adds from Sharjah: Mazhar Khan, administrator of theEmirates Cricket Board, said his board was “honoured anddelighted” to be hosting the series. “We have a very shorttime to prepare, but then we are pretty experienced inhosting matches,” he said.”Sharjah has already played host to 181 one-day matches sofar and the experience will come in handy. It will be anhistoric moment for us when we host the first Test matchhere.”
