The Pakistan Cricket Board has asked the Bangladesh cricket board to provide it with its court decision and the appeal filed by the BCB. A spokesman of PCB said that after perusing the copy of the writ petition regarding Bangladesh tour of Pakistan, pending in Dhaka High Court Division, PCB has sent an official communique to Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) asking it to submit copy of the court order and copy of the appeal (if any) filed by BCB against the stay order. “After perusal of the writ by officials of PCB assisted by legal advisor, prima facie the writ petition is devoid of merits and has been filed against public interest which will be detrimental to the game of cricket. The PCB Spokesman said that the Bangladesh tour of Pakistan and revival of international cricket in the country has also been supported at various ICC forums,” he added. He further said: “The PCB is hopeful that BCB will leave no stones unturned to get the stay order vacated.”
Meanwhile, Cricket South Africa are “unlikely” to give their seal of approval to a proposed series against Bangladesh, according to South African Cricketers’ Association chief executive Tony Irish. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is reportedly keen on playing three one-day internationals and five Twenty20 internationals in May, and CSA acting chief executive Jacques Faul confirmed the idea is under consideration. A meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday between the SACA and CSA where a final decision will be taken on the series, which will fall outside the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Future Tours Programme. Irish said: “Both CSA and SACA are required to agree to the series but, in my opinion, it is unlikely to go ahead. “Because it is an addition to the Future Tours Programme, we think it will be very difficult to arrange such a series.” South Africa are looking at a packed cricketing schedule before and after the ICC World Twenty20, which takes place in September in Sri Lanka. The Proteas will play Zimbabwe in five practice T20 matches in June, then travel to England for over two months from July, after which they will head to the World T20. They also visit Australia in October-November and host New Zealand in December. In addition, several South African players are currently playing in the County Championship and the Indian Premier League – with the exceptions of Graeme Smith, who is injured, and Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Mark Boucher who did not secure IPL contracts. Irish said: “It’s a difficult time for our players with a lot of them being away, so it will be tough to schedule [the Bangladesh series] in.” The BCB proposal comes less than a week after Bangladesh’s scheduled late-April tour to Pakistan was postponed by a high court order in Dhaka. The Tigers had been given preliminary approval by the ICC to become the first full-member international side to tour Pakistan since a terrorist attack on a Sri Lanka team bus in March 2009, which left six police officers and a driver dead and several players and officials injured. Pakistan have since played all ‘home’ series on neutral territory, most often in the United Arab Emirates, where they inflicted a 3-0 Test defeat on England at the start of this year. Bangladesh agreeing to tour the violence-hit country had been seen by many as a testing ground towards the full resumption of international tournaments in Pakistan in the future.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had last week said it was “extremely disappointed” over the postponement, and has now pleaded with Bangladesh to reconsider. In a statement released Monday, they said: “PCB is hopeful that BCB will leave no stones unturned to get the stay order vacated. “After perusing the copy of the writ petition regarding Bangladesh tour of Pakistan, pending in Dhaka High Court Division, PCB has today sent an official communique to Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) asking it to submit copy of the court order and copy of the appeal (if any) filed by BCB against the stay order.
“After perusal of the writ by officials of PCB assisted by legal advisor, prima facie the writ petition is devoid of merits and has been filed against public interest which will be detrimental to the game of cricket. “The PCB spokesman said that the Bangladesh tour of Pakistan and revival of international cricket in the country has also been supported at various ICC forums.”
