ICC calls off Champions Trophy

Dubai // The International Cricket Council (ICC) have postponed the Champions Trophy - to have been held in Pakistan between Sept 12-28 - to Oct 2009. The decision, the administrators say, reflects the global cricket community's support for troubled Pakistan. The eight-team tournament was scheduled to take place in the strife-ridden nation in three weeks' time, but South Africa had already pulled out because of security worries, and England, Australia and New Zealand also looked unlikely to tour had it gone ahead. With that in mind, the ICC abandoned the event in order to safeguard the credibility of one of their three showpiece limited-over tournaments. The ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "Every one of our members wishes to ensure the Champions Trophy is a world-class event. "The prospect of relocating it at short notice in order to make sure it was played this year would not allow that criterion to be fulfilled. "[This] agreement provides clarity for our members and in September we will look to put in place a time-frame for arrangements ahead of the event taking place in 2009." Doubts over the safety of Pakistan had put the status of the competition in jeopardy months ago. The ICC, the game's Dubai-based rulers, recently sent an independent security team to monitor the safety at the Asia Cup, an event in which the UAE team participated. When the findings of the report by Nicholls Steyn & Associates, a security company set up by Nelson Mandela's former bodyguard, were then presented to a special meeting of the participating teams, they were deemed "very positive" by the ICC. However, the doubters were not appeased. The subsequent resignation of the Pakistan president, Pervez Musharraf, which only added to the perception of unrest in the country, meant it was virtually impossible to stage the tournament as scheduled. The ICC president David Morgan said: "There was complete support and sympathy for the Pakistan Cricket Board [PCB] and the situation they find themselves in, which is not of their making. "However, there was also a realisation that, under the current circumstances, some of the teams due to compete in the Champions Trophy had reservations about touring there which could not be removed. "In those circumstances it was considered prudent to postpone the event to Oct 2009, a time when we all hope conditions may be more acceptable for all the competing teams. "It was agreed Pakistan would retain the right to host the event next year but that if, at a certain time, any members still had reservations then the ICC's board would have the right to relocate the event." The PCB themselves are in a state of flux. They are without a president after Nasim Ashraf resigned earlier this month, immediately after his close ally and the board's patron, Musharraf, departed. Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB's chief operating officer, admitted the decision to postpone the event, rather than move it elsewhere, felt like a minor triumph for his harrowed board. He said: "We are naturally disappointed but in a way the postponement is a victory for us. "Had it been relocated, it would have deprived us of the hosting rights. We are sure the event will be held in Pakistan next year." Officially, Sri Lanka had been on standby for the event, and would have been ready to stage it, even at this late notice. Yet their board recently threw their support behind the PCB, stating: "We are prepared to host the tournament, if needed, but it should go ahead as scheduled in Pakistan." Indeed, many countries were rumoured to have been sounded out about standing in, including South Africa, England and even the UAE. The PCB have a strong affiliation with Sharjah and the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council, who would have been keen to help if asked. The Sharjah Cricket Stadium staged Test matches on Pakistan's behalf in 2002, against Australia and the West Indies after both had refused to tour the country. When they played a bilateral one-day international series against India in the UAE in 2006, the PCB also stated that they hoped to play least one series per year at the Zayed Capital Stadium in the capital. However, Pakistan do not wish to set a precedent by relocating the home series to the UAE, for fear of offering an easy way out to any potential doubters in the future.

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