BBC SPORT | Cricket | Pakistan seek neutral venue

Pakistan have lost their battle to host a one-day tournament and a Test series scheduled for later this year. Both will take place at a neutral venue.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formally ruled out hosting the tri-nation series involving Australia and New Zealand in August and the Test series with Australia in October.

In a statement, the PCB said that discussions at Lord's between their director, Brigadier Munawwar Rana, and the Australian Cricket Board had ended in mutual agreement that a neutral venue was the best option.

Sri Lanka, Kenya, Bangladesh, Tangiers in Morocco and the Gulf are the likely venues and a final decision is likely to be made by mid-July, the PCB said.

Sri Lanka could act as a stand-in venue
Sri Lanka could act as stand-in hosts

The ICC last week ruled out England as one of the options to stage Pakistan's one-day tournament.

Australia's two tours to Pakistan had been thrown into serious doubt over fears of safety for the players in and around Pakistan.

New Zealand had to cut short their tour of Pakistan in May after a suicide bomb blast outside the team's hotel in Karachi on the eve of the second Test.

Fourteen people, including 11 French naval engineers, were killed in the attack.

Another blast outside the United States Consulate earlier this month left 11 people killed while security fears persists with several Al-Qaeda suspects believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

Diplomats from major countries, including Australia, have left the country fearing further attacks.

The New Zealand team leave their hotel
New Zealand called off the Karachi Test

According to ICC rulings, a series hit by security problems can be staged at a neutral venue if both the countries agree.

The PCB last week ruled out playing the series in Australia as their counterparts had offered them only two Tests instead of the scheduled three in October this year.

Cricket has been hit badly in Pakistan since the September 11 attacks in the US and the crackdown against Al-Qaeda units in Afghanistan since then.

Pakistan were forced to play their home series against the West Indies at Sharjah in February-March this year after the West Indies refused to tour Pakistan over security fears.

Pakistan's demands for compensation over losses did not succeed at the ICC meeting last week, but the PCB claimed the ICC had promised Pakistan additional one-day matches to recover the losses.


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