da bet7： The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Wednesday said it would like the NewZealand Cricket (NZC) to confirm inside 10 days if they were ready tocome for an shortened tour
14-Sep-2001The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Wednesday said it would like the NewZealand Cricket (NZC) to confirm inside 10 days if they were ready tocome for an shortened tour.A spokesman of the PCB clarified that it was not a deadline but only atime frame which could allow the host board to finalize thearrangements.”NZC is requested to monitor and review the situation quickly to helpput the tour back on track. Naturally, the abbreviated tour has toconclude before Oct 25 as Pakistan is committed to play in Sharjah onOct 27,” the spokesman said.The tri-nation series in Sharjah begins Oct 27 with Zimbabwe and SriLanka as the other participating nations. The Black Caps are scheduledto arrive in Australia on Nov 1 where the first Test begins Nov 8.Although the spokesman refused to reveal details of the abbreviatedtour, insiders said if conditions remained normal and NZC decided tosend its team, a two-Test and three-match one-day series would beplayed.”The Peshawar Test and Rawalpindi three-dayer will be scrapped whileFaisalabad Test will be shifted to Lahore. In the revamped schedule,there will be 16 playing days (including a threedayer). This impliesthat the tour can be completed in three weeks if the rest days areadded,” the sources said.In practical purposes, the tour can still conclude on Oct 24 even ifit begins Oct 1. This means New Zealand have more than two weeks toassess the situation arising from Tuesday’s tragic events inWashington and New York.According to the International Cricket Council (ICC) ruling, a two-Test series will be eligible for distribution of points for the WorldTest Championship. Similarly, the one-dayers are equally important asthe rankings of the 2003 World Cup will be based on team’s worldstandings in the matches played till Oct 1.”It is the first day of the crisis following New Zealand’s temporarilypostponement of the tour. We will certainly consider various optionsthat will be available,” the spokesman said.Continuing with the training camp or releasing the players to appearin domestic first-class competition starting Sept 21 or requesting theAsian Cricket Council (ACC) to wrap up the Test championship beforePakistan proceeds to the desert city are the options underconsideration.”NZC chief executive was reassured that the situation in Pakistan withrespect to security and playing the game are safe,” PCB director BrigMunawar Rana said in a statement.The statement added: “The PCB regrets the situation which is wellbeyond its own control and held out an assurance to all the organizersof the series that their interests are as safe as can be reasonablyexpected.”Rana, when contacted by Dawn in Lahore, said he has informed theInternational Cricket Council (ICC) that there were no securityconcerns in Pakistan. The executive board of the ICC is scheduled tomeet at Lahore between Oct 14 and 19 which will be followed up by atwo-day ACC meeting on Oct 20 and 21.”I called Mal Speed today and confirmed him that next month’s meetingwas on as far as Pakistan was concerned,” he said.Ironically, Pakistan had volunteered to host the meeting after SriLanka had refused to host in the backdrop of security concerns. Itwould be interesting to see if NZC chief executive and former Testpacer Martin Snedden attends the summit.It is for the second time in 11 years that an international team hasbeen forced to cancel or postpone its tour to Pakistan because ofsecurity fears. In 1990-91, England A returned without playing a matchwhen Gulf War broke. In 1984-85, India returned mid-way on tour whenprime minister Indra Gandhi was assassinated.