The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has formally invited Pakistan to play a Test series in 2010 and negotiations will be held soon, a senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Thursday. Saleem Altaf, director general of the board, told Reuters they had received a formal proposal from the ECB to play three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 match on the bilateral tour. “We will be holding negotiations soon with the ECB to sort out financial arrangements but obviously we are very keen to go ahead with the series,” Altaf said. Pakistan, for the first time since 1970, has gone without playing a Test all year after the postponement of Australia's test tour in April and the West Indies' withdrawal from a proposed two-Test series. Altaf said Pakistan would consider playing a match on the 2010 tour to compensate for the losses suffered by the ECB because of the early end to the disputed Oval Test in 2006. England has claimed compensation of $1.28 million from the PCB for lost revenues in the Test that ended on the fourth day at tea after captain Inzamamul Haq failed to lead his team out in time. “We have an agreement with the ECB to play a Twenty20 match on our scheduled tour to England in 2012, proceeds of which would compensate for the losses of the Oval Test,” Altaf said. “But if the ECB want we can do the same in the Twenty20 match on the 2010 tour.” ‘ICC risks ridicule' The PCB's former chairman has cautioned the game's governing body against once more changing the official result of the controversial England-Pakistan Test at The Oval in 2006. “The International Cricket Council (ICC) will only make fun of itself and it will leave them in a very awkward position,” Shaharyar Khan told The Associated Press on Thursday. Khan - as then chairman of the PCB - was at The Oval for the game. “The umpires made a wrong decision at that time and even the referee (Mike Procter) was interested in resuming the play on the fifth day,” Khan said. But now the result is under review again after the Marylebone Cricket Club last week recommended the ICC overturn its July ruling and restore the original result of an England win. ICC President David Morgan on Wednesday backed the MCC's call, saying he was against the July decision and that the result should be revisited. Khan said the draw should stand, as the July decision was taken by the top directors of the ICC. “It's not a matter that whether the changed decision was right or wrong, the point is that it was a unanimous decision,” Khan said. “It is simply like when an umpire gives a batsman out leg before wicket even though the television replays show that the ball had pitched way outside the leg stump, still the batsman has to leave the crease.” Khan said the ICC should have a body which addresses such issues.
