England not to be neutral venue for Pakistan

LONDON - Pakistan might have to pay a heavy price for the spot-fixing scandal as England will not serve as a neutral venue for Pakistan again next summer, a media report said Sunday.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the situation has been complicated by the fact that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke is also the head of the International Cricket Council’s new Pakistan Task Group.

Clarke looked with disdain while handing the Man of the Series award to Mohammed Aamer, one of the three Pakistani crickters suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for spot-fixing, showing ECB’s new, less-enthusiastic attitude towards Pakistan.

The ECB was enthusaistic for Pakistan to use England as their second home since teams refused to visit the strife torn country due to security reasons.

Pakistan’s two-Test series against Australia flopped at Headingley in terms of crowd numbers, instead of being the commercial success the ECB had hoped for. Then, the spot-fixing allegations and the suspension of three of Pakistan’s top players dispelled thoughts of inviting Pakistan back to England in a hurry.

For 2011 Clarke’s aspiration had been to stage a neutral Test and one-day series here between Pakistan and India, which would have drawn the crowds, at least for the limited-overs games. They would have served to help sustain England’s over-supply of international venues.

But, even if India’s government had allowed its national team to resume bilateral series against Pakistan - at present they can only play against each other in ICC tournaments like the World Cup. But India have a packed season till next summer.