ICC undecided on venues for Pakistan’s World Cup matches

LONDON - The International Cricket Council (ICC) said Monday it is yet to decide on the venues of the 2011 World Cup matches that were scheduled to be played in Pakistan, indicating these could be played outside the subcontinent.

ICC had dropped Pakistan as a co-host of the World Cup, to be held in the subcontinent, because of volatile security situation there, following which the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) initiated legal action against cricket’s governing body.

Representatives of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the original four co-hosts for the World Cup, met with ICC President David Morgan and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat at Lord’s here Monday.

“The meeting was convened without prejudice to discuss the ongoing issues PCB has in relation to the hosting of matches in the World Cup,” the ICC said in a statement.

“This meeting was the first occasion to settle misunderstandings. All we did today was to clarify to the PCB that there will be no matches in Pakistan,” Lorgat told reporters.

“We want to ensure Pakistan remains a host nation and we stress the importance of Pakistan as a cricketing nation.”

The ICC officials did not rule out the possibility of Pakistan holding its matches in the United Arab Emirates, where it hosted a one-day series against Australia in May-June in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

“There are already four host nations,” said Morgan. “There could be a fifth country hosting matches.”

“No decision was reached on a recommendation to the ICC board concerning possible locations for those matches but discussions are now ongoing and will continue when Mr. Morgan meets with ICC Vice-President Sharad Pawar and PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt in London June 19.

“Further discussions will help us come up with a recommendation on where the matches originally scheduled to take place in Pakistan can be held,” ICC said.