LAHORE, March 26: The England and Wales Cricket Board has offered the PCB to play its recently postponed home series against Australia in England sometime in July.
Though the PCB has already ruled out the chances of holding the series at any neutral venue, board’s chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf informed the members of the Governing Board about the offer.
The members have asked the PCB chairman to wait till he received a written offer from the ECB which is expected anytime now.
It is learnt the ECB had verbally offered $10 million to PCB for each Test match.
According to the offer, two of the three Test matches will be played inside London and one in another city.
In accepting the offer from ECB, the PCB will have to take a u-turn on its early policies of refusing the proposal of Cricket Australia (CA) of holding the series at any neutral venue.
However, it will help the board to recover huge losses incurred due to the late withdrawal of Ricky Ponting’s men from the March-April tour over security reasons.
*Wow!! Now that’s an interesting offer. Lets see how PCB will respond once they get the written offer. Are they going to decline it since they have indicated in the past that Pakistan home games will only be played at home and not on nuetral venues? *I think PCB should go for it.
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
No I don't think PCB should accept this offer. This would just set a very wrong precedent and teams would conveniently opt out of touring Pakistan. When it is England's turn to tour Pakistan they might similarly wish to play in Australia etc. So where are we heading with all this dramabaazi?
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
No I don't think PCB should accept this offer. This would just set a very wrong precedent and teams would conveniently opt out of touring Pakistan. When it is England's turn to tour Pakistan they might similarly wish to play in Australia etc. So where are we heading with all this dramabaazi?
wel then until daramabazi is not over/taken care of in pak...no team [like NZ, ENG, AUS etc] will tour pak. NZ & AUS are already worried about ICCCT in pak in sep. and ICC is looking into SL as a possible replacement if AUS/NZ decided not to come to pak to participate...all bcos of the **daramabazi **going on in pak.
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
No I don't think PCB should accept this offer. This would just set a very wrong precedent and teams would conveniently opt out of touring Pakistan. When it is England's turn to tour Pakistan they might similarly wish to play in Australia etc. So where are we heading with all this dramabaazi?
GA, a team already has very conveniently opted out and PCB couldn't do anything. Even ICC couldn't do anything about it. Did we see any news from their (ICC) end pursuing Australia to tour Pakistan????
Don't tell me that PCB can also retaliate and in return won't tour Australia. Even if that happens who will suffer the most? Think about it. Australia already is playing enough test matches every year and cancellation of one series won't make big difference for them. We on the other hand are already playing the least amount of competitive test cricket. The last time we played a 5 match test series was back in 1992. This is simlply shameful.
When Pakistan played Australia in Colombo/Sharjah on nuetral grounds several years ago, did that set any wrong precedent? Did Pakistan play all their test matches on nuetral grounds after that?
The ball is now in PCB's court. They need to pick between no cricket or some circket. It could be a dramabaazi for countries like Australia, England or India where they can threaten other countries and boycott tours, but for us it is unfortunately a harsh reality .
The ground reality may be different but from an outsider's perspective, if they don't feel safe in Pakistan in the current situation, there nothing much you can do about it.
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
I agree with fkahn2. There's no shame in playing the series at a neutral venue.. We need to accept the reality that there's always a danger of bomb/suicide bombing attack in Pakistan anytime anywhere. And no one will tour Pak until the situation improves drastically.
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
I cannot think of a worse insult. In fact ECB should have thought about the insult factor before even making the suggestion.
But I am shocked that some of you don't seem to mind it and in fact think PCB should accept!
PCB going and playing CA in any place other than Pakistan will tantamount to PCB endorsing the CA view about Pakistan being unsafe. If Pakistan is 'that' unsafe, the cricket tour is not all that important any way.
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
PCB should take the offer. I am no big fan on playing in Pakistan's dead wickets and not-so-great grounds (not to mention the fog) anyway, so this'll be a good opportunity for Pakistan to play some decent cricket. England's wickets will give Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar an edge, so we will have a fair chance of winning the series. Pakistan's batsmen and spinners will also benefit from familiar English conditions, plus the local support would also be pretty good.
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
PCB should take the offer. I am no big fan on playing in Pakistan's dead wickets and not-so-great grounds (not to mention the fog) anyway, so this'll be a good opportunity for Pakistan to play some decent cricket. England's wickets will give Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar an edge, so we will have a fair chance of winning the series. Pakistan's batsmen and spinners will also benefit from familiar English conditions, plus the local support would also be pretty good.
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
All things considered I have to reluctantly agree with fkhan2, brahmachari and a1kashur. We stand to lose more as a nation than Australia or any other team in case of cancellation of a series. We don't play enough test cricket as it is and losing series after series will only harm our cricket in the long-term. I am no big fan of playing on our dead dusty pitches either (although I disagree that all of our stadia are crap. National Stadium Karachi and Gaddafi Stadium Lahore etc. have first-class ground facilities if not decent pitches) and the problem is subcontinental excluding SLA (who have decent result-oriented pitches).
The first SA v India test was no different. Such slow and dull pitches should be turned into graveyards instead. With very few teams visiting us in the near future the PCB should utilise this time wisely and revamp pitches and ground facilities in lesser known stadia across the country. I am all for keeping home advantage and not at all advocating that all home pitches should be turned into green pacy tracks. Perhaps 50% of our pitches should be fast/green/bouncy tracks and the ones that favour spin (batting on turning tracks also requires skill) should have some bounce atleast. (some pace would also be handy)
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
PCB should take the offer. I am no big fan on playing in Pakistan's dead wickets and not-so-great grounds (not to mention the fog) anyway, so this'll be a good opportunity for Pakistan to play some decent cricket. England's wickets will give Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar an edge, so we will have a fair chance of winning the series. Pakistan's batsmen and spinners will also benefit from familiar English conditions, plus the local support would also be pretty good.
All in all, go for it!!
well we might as well stop playing there all together, because our grounds are not upto standard, dead wickets, fog. These factors are not going to go away even after the terrorism issue is resolved. Pakistans grounds are much better than those in other places in sub continent and also grounds in WI. Should we stop playing in all these places as well.
Australia wants to come and play in Pakistan, fine if not we should tell them to get lost. I didnt see the Aussies running from England when 7/7 took place and it was very close to the grounds where they were playing. I suppose the availability of pubs was the main factor in them not running away form England.
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
well we might as well stop playing there all together, because our grounds are not upto standard, dead wickets, fog. These factors are not going to go away even after the terrorism issue is resolved. Pakistans grounds are much better than those in other places in sub continent and also grounds in WI. Should we stop playing in all these places as well.
Australia wants to come and play in Pakistan, fine if not we should tell them to get lost. I didnt see the Aussies running from England when 7/7 took place and it was very close to the grounds where they were playing. I suppose the availability of pubs was the main factor in them not running away form England.
Re: ECB has offered PCB to host Pak-Aus Test series
At the end of the day, its all about dollars and cents (i.e.money).
In Pakistan, very few people actually show up at the stadium to watch a cricket game (I am talking test cricket now). Depending upon how much TV/ad revenue is expected by PCB when such series are held in Pakistan, and comparing it to this offer ($10m per test match), it should be a carefully considered decision. Most Pak fans, watch these games on television anyway, and by having the series in UK, the time difference is such that all day games will be in prime time (afternoon-evening) Pakistan time.
The only problem will be that our cricketers will be robbed of having a home crowd advantage with crowd cheering them, but considering the low turn out in Pakistan, combined with the fact that Britons are no fans of Aussies anyway, it could still work.
Not sure how the dollars stack up, but, comparing to the other option of having zero cricket, I'd say this offer should be carefully considered.
Hopefully in a few weeks/months/years, the security situation will improve in Pakistan, so this should not be deemed as a precedence.
I am afraid though, that egos (personal and national) and false pride will come in the way of an intelligent decision.
relax guys.. this is not a new thread. Instead of posting the news in a new thread I thought of reviving this old thread from March 08. Even then at that time I thought it was a good offer. If this is just an idea then PCB needs to pursue it with ECB and ICC. It’s time for out of the box thinking..
England could host Pakistan Tests
Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, has floated the idea that England could host Test matches for Asian countries who struggle to fill their grounds, or fail to attract opposition in the first place owing to security fears.
Pakistan are one such country. With the growing unease over its political stability, teams are increasingly unwilling to take the risk of touring there. Australia postponed their Test tour of the country earlier this year and the Champions Trophy suffered the same fate after several nations expressed security fears.
Clarke has admitted the ECB could take advantage of Britain’s growing ethnic population who “are keen to see their own heroes”.
“Indeed it might be said that Pakistan might get a better crowd in Leeds than in Karachi,” Clarke says in a feature on the future of Test cricket in the November issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine. "It’s something we are considering, how we play these types of games and where we can play them.
“I like the idea of providing the opportunity with our fabulous grounds and our huge ethnic minority populations who are keen to see their own heroes. And it may be in the interests of cricket; that’s the most important thing for me.”
I re-read all the posts and have to align with GoldenAsif Bhai. I see the defense argument against it as well. Here is my rebuttal: Should Pakistan also take up an offer of playing their share of World Cup matches in England(/or India, Srilanka, Bangladesh) if such an offer is put on the table? We know this is going to happen in two years' time. Why not actually do something about it. Rameez Raja recently stated that it would be a decent idea to invite a World X1 team which will remove doubts and promote tourism (to Pakistan).
This was also my reaction to Ehsan Mani's recently-raised comment that Pakistan should give up rights to host the now-postponed Champions Trophy. Yes, and what then? Should Pakistan also refuse to acknowledge the situation that it is them who are hurting the most with hosting home games outside of Pakistan? What precedent is Pakistan setting, organized a 9-year deal with Dubai and now ECB is joining in, of course they want a piece of cake. I am certainly not against the idea of playing home games abroad, but there is a limit somewhere, yes? If PCB continues to give-in to the fact that nothing can be done about terrorism and that home tours are done and dusted with, what will happen in two years time with the World Cup? If this current situation does not improve, PCB will lose the international image, or whatever is left of it now. I am all for cross-promotion but not at the permanent expense of what should benefit us in the long run.
I re-read all the posts and have to align with GoldenAsif Bhai. I see the defense argument against it as well. Here is my rebuttal: Should Pakistan also take up an offer of playing their share of World Cup matches in England(/or India, Srilanka, Bangladesh) if such an offer is put on the table? We know this is going to happen in two years' time. Why not actually do something about it. Rameez Raja recently stated that it would be a decent idea to invite a World X1 team which will remove doubts and promote tourism (to Pakistan). .
Lets be realistic DB. What kind of high-profile players would you expect to see in a World 11 squad? I can bet not a single high profile player will come. You know and I know that foreign teams have always been reluctant to tourr Pakistan after 9/11 due to the boring nature of the trip and now they have got an "official" excuse not to tour Pakistan. Do you really think if a world X1 will tour Pakistan it will change things for us? Remember their excuse is that anything can go wrong anywhere in Pakistan and anyone could be at the wrong place at the wrong time, therefore the place is simply just too dangerous to tour. There arguement will be that a safe return of a World X1 squad doesn't gurantee their safety during a trip to Pakistan.
This was also my reaction to Ehsan Mani's recently-raised comment that Pakistan should give up rights to host the now-postponed Champions Trophy. Yes, and what then? Should Pakistan also refuse to acknowledge the situation that it is them who are hurting the most with hosting home games outside of Pakistan? What precedent is Pakistan setting, organized a 9-year deal with Dubai and now ECB is joining in, of course they want a piece of cake. I am certainly not against the idea of playing home games abroad, but there is a limit somewhere, yes? If PCB continues to give-in to the fact that nothing can be done about terrorism and that home tours are done and dusted with, what will happen in two years time with the World Cup? If this current situation does not improve, PCB will lose the international image, or whatever is left of it now. I am all for cross-promotion but not at the permanent expense of what should benefit us in the long run.
How can Pakistan hurt themselves by hosting the matches abroad? The damage was already been done without Pakistan even talking about nuetral venues with the cancellation of Aussie tour, Kiwis tour and Champions Trophy. Even Windies refused to tour PAkistan in November.
It is about time that we all should take our heads out of the sand. The sooner we realize that Non-Asian teams will not be touring PAkistan the better it will be for the game of cricket in Pakistan. Who could have thought the even with the support of the Asian Block, a country could fail to convince the ICC? But it happened. The bottom line is that if we want to hold on to our image, ego or pride then just be prepared to play with India, Srilanka, BD and Zimbabwe for the next couple of years because even if ground realities will be different in Pakkstan but the international perception is not going to change anytime soon.
Lets be realistic DB. What kind of high-profile players would you expect to see in a World 11 squad? I can bet not a single high profile player will come. You know and I know that foreign teams have always been reluctant to tourr Pakistan after 9/11 due to the boring nature of the trip and now they have got an "official" excuse not to tour Pakistan. Do you really think if a world X1 will tour Pakistan it will change things for us? Remember their excuse is that anything can go wrong anywhere in Pakistan and anyone could be at the wrong place at the wrong time, therefore the place is simply just too dangerous to tour. There arguement will be that a safe return of a World X1 squad doesn't gurantee their safety during a trip to Pakistan.
It is the job of newly-appointed Ejaz Butt to convince players. None of whom, which I gather you correctly said, will be willing to tour. But given PCB's push and it's security advisors with the insurance that the international players will be given a state(head)-level security might do the trick. Let's not throw this idea away altogether as I think Rameez's point is worth considering by the PCB. Yes, the place is dangerous to tour. Does that mean we should give up rights to host World Cup matches also? We have to draw the line somewhere. We can't continue to ignore the situation of our country. I am expecting the new PCB chief to be proactive in more ways than one.
How can Pakistan hurt themselves by hosting the matches abroad? The damage was already been done without Pakistan even talking about nuetral venues with the cancellation of Aussie tour, Kiwis tour and Champions Trophy. Even Windies refused to tour PAkistan in November.
It is about time that we all should take our heads out of the sand. The sooner we realize that Non-Asian teams will not be touring PAkistan the better it will be for the game of cricket in Pakistan. Who could have thought the even with the support of the Asian Block, a country could fail to convince the ICC? But it happened. The bottom line is that if we want to hold on to our image, ego or pride then just be prepared to play with India, Srilanka, BD and Zimbabwe for the next couple of years because even if ground realities will be different in Pakkstan but the international perception is not going to change anytime soon.
I believe that cross-promotion should be done to enhance the images of both countries. ECB can get the revenue out of it and Pakistan can get the exposure that it needs, so it is a win-win situation. I am not against it at all. My only concern at this point with everything that has been going around is that we have to draw the line somewhere for ourselves and start pushing for home games in Pakistan. Rameez's idea might stick, who knows. If there are Indian/Srilankan/West Indian players included on one side with a big cashout at stake, the reluctance of Australians will be less. I think it is doable. So far, this is the only idea that has been toyed around with. I do not see any other action items in other columns that are written (Pak Spin/Dawn etc)
It is the job of newly-appointed Ejaz Butt to convince players. None of whom, which I gather you correctly said, will be willing to tour. But given PCB's push and it's security advisors with the insurance that the international players will be given a state(head)-level security might do the trick.
I think that was what offered to all the teams in the past as well and it failed to convince them. As a matter of fact PCB has been arranging state head level secuity to all the teams for the past couple of years.
Yar what makes you think that couple of friendly onofficial games will change their mind when official series like South Africa last year comprising of test matches, ODI's, side matches, and Asia Cup couldn't do it. Don't you remember all the site visits by the ICC appointed security firm and their positive findings couldn't convince the foreign team after the Asia Cup was successfully held in Pakistan?
I can bet that even after successfully holding the forthcoming Indian tour, we will not be able to convince them. We need to realize that they don't really care about PCB and government successfully managing these tours. As long as their foreign office has a security advisory in place for Pakistan, they will continue to use this excuse of not touring.
I don't know about the World Cup and frankly speaking I don't care. May be the situation will still remain the same till then. So does that mean between now and 2011 we don't play any cricket at all with theses teams???? Just because we want to organize few matches of the World Cup in Pakistan in 2011, we jeopardize chance of playing competitvie cricket?
I know the situation is not ideal but there comes a time when you have to weigh advantages and disadvatgaes and choose one option even if it is not the best.