ICC Says Pakistan Needs To Increase Security To Win Confidence Of Foreign Teams

Pakistan will have to wait "to bring int'l cricket back to the country" as the Int'l Cricket Council said that it "needs to do more on the security front to win the confidence of the foreign teams," according to the PTI. ICC CEO Dave Richardson on Sunday said it is "premature" to comment if the country is safe to host int'l matches. Richardson: "It's safe or not that we have to ask the security officials. Obviously, they have got a difficult situation there, and I think they still have a lot of work to do in convincing the international teams to tour Pakistan. I think it's premature to say whether it's safe to tour Pakistan or not." Pakistan had been "working hard to convince the Bangladesh Cricket Board to tour the nation for a short series." Bangladesh, though, recently called off its January tour of Pakistan "because of security worries." The ICC statement has also "put a question mark on the country hosting an int'l series anytime soon." Talking about Board of Control for Cricket in India's reluctance to introduce the Decision Review System in the home series, Richardson said that the idea behind introducing the technology is "to improve the accuracy, reliability and the ball tracking system." Richardson said, "There are a number of teams and the players who want to have DRS on a more consistent basis. At this stage, the majority of member countries agree with the ICC policy to have it in the series so when it is used it works well. I think in the longer run, it's good for the game" (PTI, 1/6).

BUILDING A FOUNDATION: The PTI also reported BCCI President Narayanaswami Srinivasan said that his organization is "taking necessary measures to improve the cricket infrastructure in the country." Srinivasan said, "Because of BCCI's policy, three new stadiums are ready to host their maiden ODI match in the upcoming ODI series against England. The three new stadiums have been constructed in Ranchi, Rajkot and Dharamshala" (PTI, 1/6).