KARACHI, Pakistan, (Reuters):
PAKISTAN CRICKET Board (PCB) officials have attempted to persuade their West Indies counterparts to reverse a decision to pull out of next month's scheduled tour, PCB sources said yesterday.
On Tuesday the PCB said West Indies had become the third team to refuse to tour Pakistan because of security concerns after the September 11 attacks on the United States and the subsequent military strikes in Afghanistan.
"The Pakistan point of view is clear that conditions in Afghanistan have improved with the reduction in military strikes and establishment of a new government there while even the border tensions with India are gradually reducing," one source told Reuters.
The sources said they had urged West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Wesley Hall to get first hand information from former skipper Clive Lloyd who is due in Rawalpindi on Thursday on a five-day coaching assignment.
West Indies were scheduled to play Pakistan in three Tests and three one-day internationals in February and March. Hall has asked the PCB to recommend mutually acceptable neutral venues.
PCB director Brigadier Munawwar Rana told Reuters from Lahore that Pakistan could stage international cricket at present.
"The West Indies board has expressed its concerns to the PCB regarding the security situation in the sub-continent," he said.
"We feel that presently the circumstances inside the country are calm and quiet for cricket purposes as the situation is developing towards an easing out of border tensions.
"With respect to alternate venues, PCB has to work out the extra costs involved and match them with the reduction in revenues. Hopefully a more clearer picture and more firm decisions will emerge in a few days' time."
The PCB lost an estimated US$10 million in television and advertising revenues after New Zealand and Sri Lanka pulled out of tours late last year.
