The International Cricket Council has decided to allow the 2008 Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan as planned, despite security concerns. The decision raises the possibility that players from Australia, New Zealand and England will refuse to play in the September tournament, forcing those countries to send weakened teams or pull out. Pakistan Cricket Board chief Nasim Ashraf said the 10 full ICC members gave Pakistan the green light to hold the tournament after a board meeting. Pakistan's status as host of the Sept. 11-28 tournament had been in jeopardy because national ruling bodies and player representatives from Australia, New Zealand and England had expressed concerns about security following a wave of suicide bombings. “I am thankful to all the ICC member countries for their wisdom and looking at the larger interest of the game,” Ashraf said. “Pakistan remains a safe place to organize sports events and we hope it will be a world class event.” Ashraf said the ICC formed an eight-member task-force that will visit Pakistan and check security measures are implemented. While Pakistan had the clear support of the three other Asian members - India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - players from Australia, New Zealand and England have showed reservations over participating in the tournament. Ashraf said in Thursday's teleconference that “countries clearly and frankly conveyed their reservations of the players.” Australia allrounder Andrew Symonds has said he will not travel to Pakistan, and Cricket Australia seemingly expressed sympathy with his stance by indicating that players who decide against touring for safety fears would not face future selection repercussions. That means players such as Symonds could skip the tour and return for the 2008-09 international season. Australia is only major Test-playing country that has not toured Pakistan over the past decade. It was scheduled to tour Pakistan in March-April, but rescheduled it until next year due to security concerns. Last October, the PCB shifted the fifth and final one-day international against South Africa from Karachi to Lahore after suicide bombs killed about 150 people in a procession of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The ex-premier died in a suicide attack in Rawalpindi in December. Ashraf said the task force, which will include several senior ICC officials such as president David Morgan, will visit Pakistan and meet with top government officials to reassess security and check that recommendations were followed. He did not say when the task force would visit. Ashraf said it would comprise ICC president David Morgan, vice president Sharad Pawar, chief executive Haroon Logart, principal advisor Inderjeet Bindra and himself. It would also feature a representative from the tournament's official broadcasters, ESPN-Star, and a member of the Federation of International Cricketers Association, he said. “Let me assure you that it was a correct decision by the ICC keeping in mind that there should be unity in cricket,” he added. “We are committed to have full security as the government of Pakistan has given its full support to organize the Champions Trophy,” Ashraf said. Pakistan hosted the six-nation Asia Cup tournament this month without any major incident during the 13 one-day internationals in Karachi and Lahore. Australia is due to defend the title it won in 2006 against the West Indies. Host Pakistan, South Africa, the West Indies, England, India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand were the other teams taking part.
