Players disappointed on postponement of Champions Trophy: Shoaib Malik

Pakistan pondered another low-point for the country's cricketing fortunes on Friday, when the shelved Champions Trophy had been due to kick off.

Captain Shoaib Malik said the players were "very disappointed" at last month's setback when the high-profile International Cricket Council (ICC) tournament was postponed over security fears.

Attempts to reschedule the Trophy for October 2009 are clashing with other series, leaving the event in doubt.

With ongoing security problems placing a question mark over future tours here, Malik said Pakistan's reputation had been dealt a serious blow.

"As cricketers we are very disappointed,"

Malik told foreign news agency.

"I would rather say that disappointment is a very small word for the feeling we are going through and our cricket has badly suffered from the Trophy postponement."

The September 12-28 event for the top eight nations was put off after South Africa refused to tour and players from Australia, England and New Zealand also expressed reluctance to visit.

Malik said Pakistan needed to host the Trophy to prove itself as a safe venue for international cricket.

"The Pakistan government gave full security assurances and had the event took place with fans coming from abroad perceptions and the image of our country would have changed,"

he said.

"We badly needed to host the Champions Trophy because it would have paved the way for more international cricket in Pakistan. We are now sitting idle with no activity and it's something which no player wanted,"

Malik added.

'Pakistan should surrender Champions Trophy rights' - Mani

Ehsan Mani, the former ICC president, has advised the Pakistan Cricket Board to surrender its right to host the Champions Trophy, scheduled for October 2009, and ask the ICC for an event in the future as compensation.

Pakistan was supposed to host the Champions Trophy in September 2008 but the tournament was postponed after five countries said they would not send their teams because of security concerns in the country. Sri Lanka was the designated back-up option but the ICC chose to postpone the tournament, rather than shift it to another location, after the Pakistan board and the BCCI stood firm against a change in venue.

"Since it was known earlier that some teams were not comfortable about touring Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, the PCB should have taken the initiative by asking the ICC to shift it to an alternate venue, instead of postponing it, to avoid the financial loses,"

Mani told IANS.

"If the tournament was shifted, the ICC could have earned approximately $50 million and every participating team would have had their share of $3.75 million each.

"In my view, the PCB should have withdrawn from hosting the Champions Trophy and should have demanded any future ICC event like the 2012 Champions Trophy or the Twenty20 World Cup in 2013 as compensation since ICC hasn't allocated those events."

The staging of the Champions Trophy in 2009 will be discussed during meetings between the Chief Executives Committee and the ICC board on September 10 and 11. Mani was of the view that Pakistan could still give up the hosting rights during the meeting in Dubai.

Tri-series likely to be called off

The proposed tri-series in South Africa, also involving Pakistan and probably Sri Lanka, is likely to be called off. The Pakistan Cricket Board was trying to arrange the tournament to fill the gap in the schedule caused by the postponement of the Champions Trophy.

Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB's chief operating officer, confirmed that the event was facing several roadblocks.

"A CSA official asked us for details on the proposal,"

he told the News.

"He did say that South Africa's leading players were not interested in playing in a series immediately after their tour of England."

As for the PCB's next course of action, Naghmi said:

"We are working on several options and will decide in the next few days as to which idea is the most feasible."

South Africa's coach Mickey Arthur had expressed concerns that fatigue was hampering his team's progress after their 4-0 loss to England in the recent one-day series. He also said he believed the tri-series was an unlikely starter.

"I'm sure the tri-series is not going to take place and, in retrospect, it's a relief the Champions Trophy was called off because we would have been back on a plane flying to Pakistan on Sunday,"

Arthur said.

"I'd like the administrators to remember the team is our product and because they've done so marvellously well it has led to commercial opportunities. But I don't think we should be flogging a dead horse."

Aussies responsible for Champions Trophy’s postponement: Atherton

Former England cricket captain Michael Atherton said that Australian cricketers are responsible for postponement of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

He said that the Australian cricketers association raised questions before the Champions Trophy saying there is a security issue in the Asian country while the ICC had given green signal for the event.

Mike Atherton wrote in his column that when the Australian cricketers do not want to tour Pakistan then they begin propaganda that Pakistan is not a safe place.

He further said that if the match is held in India then they do not see any danger. Despite bomb blasts in an Indian city of Jaipur they did not refuse to tour India as they get an opportunity of earning wealth through marketing there.

Atherton said that this is their dual policy and only because of them, cricketers of other countries also expressed concerns. Thus the Champions Trophy was made a target of these cricketers’ own interests and this event was postponed.

Imran Khan fears trouble ahead for Pakistan cricket

Cricket legend Imran Khan Monday said he feared more trouble for Pakistan cricket after the Champions Trophy postponement, saying the country is run by the wrong people who are destroying everything.

"The postponement of Champions Trophy is a body blow to Pakistan but since the country is run by wrong people I see more trouble for cricket in the country,"

he said.

On Sunday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) put off September's Champions Trophy until next year after South Africa pulled out and Australia, New Zealand and England were due to follow suit.

The four nations were reluctant to tour Pakistan over security fears after a series of blasts in the past month and political instability in the wake of president Pervez Musharraf's resignation.

The ICC said Pakistan keeps the right to host the event, possibly in October next year, but Khan believed the present government would not be able to improve the situation in the country.

"Not just from the spectators' point of view but also funds wise, these cancellations and postponement have hit Pakistan cricket hard but I fear it will suffer more."

ICC postpones Champions Trophy in Pakistan

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Sunday postponed until next year September's Champions Trophy in Pakistan over security fears.

The move came two days after South Africa refused to send their team, while players' associations from Australia, New Zealand and England urged their players not to travel to the troubled country over serious security concerns.

The decision to postpone the event was taken after a tele-conference of the ICC executive board in Dubai on Sunday.

Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said while disappointing, the decision to postpone was a sort of victory for Pakistan.

"We are naturally disappointed but in a way the postponement is a victory for us. Under these circumstances there were only two solutions: either to relocate the event to Sri Lanka or postpone it.

"Had it been relocated it would have deprived us of the hosting rights,"

Naghmi said.

"We are sure that the event will be held in Pakistan next year."

The ICC desperately tried to convince the wavering nations by sending two security task teams to Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa but they failed to allay their fears.

The event, scheduled to be held from September 12-28, had ran into trouble after Australia postponed their full tour to Pakistan over security fears triggered in the wake of suicide bombings earlier this year.

Australia were scheduled to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match on their tour in March-April.

England, New Zealand and South Africa also expressed concerns over security for the biennial competition following a wave of suicide bombings and political instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan.

South Africa’s decision regarding Champions Trophy is hasty: Naghmi

Declaring South Africa’s decision to skip next month's Champions Trophy ‘hasty’, Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said here on Friday that the tournament may be affected from this decision.

Expressing reaction on South Africa’s decision, Shafqat Naghmi said that this decision is very disappointing.

"We are deeply disappointed and when a decision was to be made on Sunday we think South Africa made a hasty choice,"

the PCB chief operating officer said.

Naghmi said South Africa was a major cricketing nation and its refusal to take part would hurt the event badly.

"Now it's up to the ICC to take a decision which they would take on Sunday but I would say that South Africa's refusal will badly hurt the event. We will still do our best to save the event and host it on schedule,"

he said.

Security fears: South Africa not to participate in Champions Trophy

South Africa cricket board has withdrawn its name from the participants of the ICC Champions Trophy due to continued security situation in Pakistan.

It announced Friday that it would not send a team to the Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan next month.

They are the first country officially to boycott the tournament, which has been mired in controversy over security concerns.

The decision follows a meeting Friday involving Cricket South Africa, International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat and ICC security officials.

"After extensive discussions and a frank exchange of views, the board resolved not to send our team at this time to Pakistan to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy,"

Cricket SA president Norman Arendse said in a statement.

"We respect the right of the Pakistan Cricket Board to stage the tournament and we would urge the ICC to reschedule the tournament as soon as possible,"

added Arendse.

South African players, through the South Africa Cricketers Association, again expressed "major concerns" about playing in Pakistan.

ICC satisfied with Champions Trophy arrangements

International Cricket Council team visited National Stadium in Karachi to review the security measures taken by Pakistan cricket Board for ICC Champions Trophy.

ICC team comprising Event Manager Chris Tetley, Communication Officer James Jerald and Pitch Consultant Andy expressed has satisfaction over security arrangements.

Talking with media, ICC Communication Officer James Jerald said that it was a routine visit aimed at reviewing the arrangements made for the ICC Champions Trophy.

Regarding Austria’s refusal to take part in the Champions Trophy, he said that ICC was not officially informed about the decision.

Shoaib Akhtar asked to pay fine before Champions Trophy

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked Shoaib Akhtar to pay the fine of seven million rupees before the ICC Champions Trophy.

The PCB has sent a notice to fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar asking him to pay the fine of Rs.
7,000,000.

Shoaib Akhtar’s name has been included in the 15-man squad selected for the ICC Champions Trophy.

Talking with Reporter Syed Yahya Hussaini, PCB’s chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said that honouring the Lahore High Court decision we did not object on the selection of Shoaib Akhtar. However, the court did not stop us from receiving the fine from the fast bowler.

Meanwhile, the lawyer of Shoaib Akhtar said that the reply of the notice would be given after consulting with the fast bowler.

According to the PCB sources, chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf and captain Shoaib Malik are not happy with Shoaib Akhtar’s returning to the team and therefore his case is being made complicated.

Revised schedule of the ICC Champions Trophy

The International Cricket Council Wednesday announced a revised schedule for September's Champions Trophy in Pakistan after Rawalpindi was excluded from the list of venues:

Revised Schedule:

September 12 - Pakistan v West Indies - Lahore
September 13 - Australia v India - Karachi
September 14 - Sri Lanka v England - Lahore
September 14 - South Africa v New Zealand - Karachi
September 15 - Pakistan v Australia - Karachi
September 16 - South Africa v Sri Lanka - Lahore
September 17 - England v New Zealand - Lahore
September 18 - India v West Indies - Karachi
September 19 - New Zealand v Sri Lanka - Lahore
September 20 - India v Pakistan - Karachi
September 21 - Australia v West Indies - Lahore
September 21 - England v South Africa - Karachi
September 24 - Semi-final A2 vs B1 - Karachi
September 25 - Reserve day
September 26 - Semi-final A1 v B2 - Lahore
September 27 - Reserve day for Semi-final
September 28 - Final - Lahore
September 29 - Reserve day for final

Group A: Australia, Pakistan, India and West Indies

Group B: England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand

15 Players announced for ICC Champions Trophy

National Selection Committee headed by Mr. Salahuddin Ahmad has announced 15 players for the ICC Champions Trophy 2008 in Pakistan. The squad is as follows:

1. Shoaib Malik - Captain
2. Salman Butt
3. Nasir Jamshed
4. Khalid Latif
5. Younis Khan
6. Misbah-ul-Haq - Vice Captain
7. Bazid Khan
8. Shahid Afridiv
9. Sohail Tanvir
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Umar Gul
12. Iftikhar Anjum
13. Abdur Rauf
14. Kamran Akmal - Wicket Keeper
15. Saeed Ajmal

No security threats in Pakistan: Younus Khan

The stylish veteran middle order batsman of Pakistan cricket team Younus Khan has said Tuesday that there are no security threats for foreign cricketers here in Pakistan and International cricket teams must come to Pakistan to partake Champions Trophy.

Talking to media at International Cricket Academy in Lahore he said that recent spells of showers have affected net practices however boys, being fully committed, have been taking the full advantage of this academy and partaking indoor cricketing school side by side with Gym for training.

Pakistan is a safe country for cricket having no security threats. The reservations foreign players possess regarding their security in Champions Trophy he termed baseless.

PCB to handover Pakistani grounds to ICC on Aug 15

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will handover the stadiums of Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on August 15 for the Champions Trophy.

Talking in the Geo News programme ‘Scorer’, PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said that when the PCB hands over the charge of these three grounds to the ICC then the ICC chief curator Andy Atkinson would begin preparing the pitches on the grounds.

Shafqat Naghmi said that the charge of the main buildings of these stadiums would be given to the ICC on September 1.

The ICC Champions Trophy will be starting from September 12, according to the new schedule and the ICC awards ceremony will be held on September in Lahore.

Champions Trophy: Qaddafi Stadium revamp moves at snail’s pace

ICC Champions Trophy, which is already in doldrums due to foreign teams’ security fears, is now facing yet another impediment due to the lethargic attitude of the management in administrative matters.

The construction work of Qaddafi Stadium is underway at such a slow pace that it doesn’t seem to be getting completed within the fixed time. The Stadium’s College-end construction work had started in February and the deadline for its completion was fixed at August 31 in a bid to hand over the Stadium to the ICC Champions Trophy Management, but the construction work doesn’t seem to be meeting the deadline because of its slow pace.

The construction company is mostly relying on laborers instead of deploying the latest construction machineries. Besides, rain spells have also delayed the work. Experts said that the completion of the three-storey building in the next 28 days would not be less than a miracle.

A media center equipped with the latest gadgets besides accommodation for additional 6000 viewers is being constructed at the College-end at a cost of Rs150 million. However, PCB Chief Operating Officer, Shafqat Naghmi seems satisfied with the pace of work.

Special committee for security arrangements of Champions Trophy

The Interior Ministry has decided to form a special committee for reviewing security arrangements of the ICC Champions Trophy. This committee will submit report to the Interior Ministry on weekly basis.

To review the security arrangements of the Champions Trophy, the third meeting of the National Intelligence and Operation Committee was held at the Interior Ministry, Islamabad.

The meeting was attended by Additional Secretary Interior Ministry Imtiaz Qazi, Security Consultant ICC Bruce, Event Director PCB Ahmed Farooq and high officials of Sindh and Punjab Police.

Ahmed Farooq told the meeting that the Pakistan Cricket Board in collaboration with the Interior Ministry and intelligence departments has made fool proof security arrangements for the Champions Trophy.

Imtiaz Qazi directed the police officials to make security arrangements for the Champions Trophy on the lines of Asia Cup and remove deficiency if it is there.

Ahmed Farooq told Geo News after the meeting that the security consultant of the ICC has expressed satisfaction on the security arrangements and said that he would remain in contact with the PCB and the Interior Ministry.

Pakistan squad clears dope tests

Pakistan's preliminary Champions Trophy squad have come clean after results on the dope test conducted by WADA-accredited officers of the Anti-Doping Organisation of Pakistan on July 19 in Lahore turned out negative.

Twenty-six players in the 30-man squad were tested, while four players including Younis Khan who failed to attend due to other commitments, will be tested at a later date. The samples were sent to a WADA-accredited doping control centre in Penang, Malaysia for verification.

"The tests were conducted on 26 of the 30 players in the preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy and I can say that it's a great relief that all the tests are negative,"

Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB's chief operating officer told AFP.

The PCB, while announcing the squad on July 14, had said that players would be ineligible for selection if they tested positive. The board has taken a strict anti-doping policy after the various scandals to have dogged Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, including the pair testing positive for the banned substance Nandralone before the 2006 Champions Trophy in India. Both were subsequently let off after appealing on a technicality.

While Shoaib has cleared this test, perhaps paving the way for his return to the national squad, Asif is currently suspended by the PCB for testing positive for a banned substance during random dope tests conducted on the sidelines of the IPL, where he played for the Delhi Daredevils.

Champions Trophy task force to visit Pakistan after Aug 14

The task force team, formed for the ICC Champions Trophy, will visit Pakistan after August 14.

Talking with media at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, director media of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mansoor Sohail told that this is not possible for the task force to immediately tour Pakistan because the law enforcing agencies would be busy due to Independence Day celebrations in Pakistan. Therefore, this team can visit Pakistan only after August 14 to review the security arrangements for the Champions Trophy.

He said that this has not been decided to send any official to Switzerland for supervising Mohammad Asif’s dope test.

Media director Mansoor Sohail, who does not know whether Mohammad Asif was presented before the fact finding committee or not on Tuesday, told media that the third meeting of the fact finding committee on Dubai Case of Mohammad Asif was held on Tuesday. Now the next meeting will be held after the committee’s head Shafquat Naghmi returns from Karachi.

Foreign teams to be given full protection: Shoaib Malik

Captain Pakistan cricket team Shoaib Malik said that he asked the star players of foreign teams to ensure their participation in the Champions Trophy as they would be provided complete protection in Pakistan.

Talking with media after a ceremony at a local hotel, Shoaib Malik said that the ICC Champions Trophy would be held in Pakistan according to the schedule.

He said that whatever the security concerns the foreign teams and star players have in their minds are baseless. Besides the successful holding of the Asia Cup, many foreign teams have come and played here.

ICC decides to keep Champions Trophy in Pakistan

The International Cricket Council decided Thursday to keep September's Champions Trophy in Pakistan but it will appoint a commission to ensure security.

The decision came after the ICC's executive board held a teleconference to discuss the possibility of moving the biennial tournament because of security fears raised by Australia, England and New Zealand.

"The Champions Trophy will stay in Pakistan and we thank all member countries for their kind support,"

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf told a news conference.

"The ICC will be appointing a special taskforce to ensure that the implementation of the recommendations of the (ICC-commissioned) security report are indeed being met,"

Ashraf said.

The year's biggest one-day tournament, featuring the top eight one-day nations, is due to be held in Pakistan from September 11 to 28, with Australia as the defending champions.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat sought to allay fears players might pull out of the event, saying the council would do all in its power to ensure their safety.

"It's not something that I treat lightly, but I think it's something that we can manage,"

Lorgat told reporters in Sri Lanka.

"We have to separate perception from reality. While those concerns exist, we will do our utmost to assure them (players) we would not go in a tournament where safety or security is going to be compromised."

Nasim Ashraf said the security commission would comprise ICC president David Morgan, vice president Sharad Pawar, Lorgat, principal advisor Inderjeet Bindra and himself.

It would also feature a representative from the tournament's official broadcasters, ESPN-Star, and a member of the Federation of International Cricketers' Association, he said.

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik hailed the decision and vowed to make the tournament a success.

"I congratulate the people of Pakistan, who will now witness the best players playing in the event and we will all combine our efforts with the PCB and the government to make this tournament a great success,"

Malik said.

Pakistan's fate as tournament host was left hanging in the balance on Sunday after a security briefing in Dubai featuring all participating nations decided to wait for the ICC teleconference to announce a decision.

Players from Australia, England and New Zealand had raised security concerns Wednesday.

Australia are due to defend the title they won in 2006 against the West Indies. Hosts Pakistan, South Africa, the West Indies, England, India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand are the other teams taking part.