Pakistan Cricket Board
The slow pace of renovations to the stadium at Rawalpindi could
force cricket authorities to restrict next month's Champions Trophy to
just two venues, sources within the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have
said.
The tournament, second in importance to the World Cup, is already
proving contentious with four of the eight countries -- New Zealand,
Australia, South Africa and England -- expressing concerns about
security and player safety.
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An International Cricket Council (ICC) inspection team, lead by
operations head Dave Richardson and head of the players' unions Tim
May, is to inspect security and venues next week.
"In principle there is a feeling in the board that the stadium might
not be completed in time for the venue to be handed over to the ICC for
preparation of pitches and other logistical arrangements," a PCB source
told Reuters.
"There has been a suggestion to distribute the 15 matches of the
tournament under the revised schedule with Karachi hosting seven
matches and Lahore eight including the final."
A decision would be made after the ICC visit, the source added.
The ICC's chief curator is due in Pakistan next week to start
preparing pitches.
PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said a deadline of August
20 had been set for renovation work on the Pindi stadium to be
completed.
"We are hopeful this will happen although some of the details might
not be completed by the deadline," he said.
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