ICC Will No Longer Play Role In Helping Convince Teams Of Pakistan's Security

A top official of the Int'l Cricket Council believes that it "is not in a position to convince cricketing nations to resume playing in Pakistan," according to the AP. Pakistan has not hosted any major test-playing nation since the '09 attack on the Sri Lanka team bus that killed six police officials and a van driver in Lahore. ICC CEO David Richardson said, "I'm not a security expert to form a view necessarily about the safety or not of players. It will be up to the [Pakistan Cricket Board] in convincing that it is safe to come to Pakistan, and they will make up their own minds in this regard." The PCB "has been forced to organize its home series" mainly in the UAE since the '09 incident. It "has tried to convince other cricket boards to return to Pakistan, but even the lowly ranked Bangladesh team" has twice postponed its tour during the last 10 months (AP, 1/14).