Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) still wants opposition sides to tour its country despite Tuesday's attack on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore, said cricket board chairman Ejaz Butt. Butt also said his team would definitely tour Sri Lanka in July and that he did not fear any retaliatory attacks. “We cannot predict these incidents,” he said. “We can say we will make every effort to give teams the very best security like we did in Karachi during the first Test that passed without incident. “If some people don't want to come that is their wish and we cannot blame them but we still hope to get our friends to come and play in Pakistan.” Butt, who replaced Nasim Ashraf as the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board last year, said the attack could have occurred anywhere. “This incident was out of our control and these kinds of incidents can happen in any country, in England, in India, anywhere,” he said. “Let's hope we can convince people and improve security. “We will definitely be going to Sri Lanka. We will have to wait and see about the results of the investigation as to who was responsible for this incident but I don't see why any Sri Lankan would wish to harm the Pakistan cricket team,” added Butt. PCB officials also played down fears that their country will not be able to host 2011 World Cup matches, which it is scheduled to share with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. PCB chief operating officer Salim Altaf, however, played down the concerns. “We strongly condemn the incident,” Altaf told reporters at the stadium. “But fears that these incidents will affect World Cup matches are premature since the event is two years away.” Altaf also denied media reports that the ICC had suggested shifting the 2011 World Cup matches away from Pakistan. “The ICC has sent us a message of support and not about anything else,” he said. The next team scheduled to tour Pakistan is New Zealand in October-November. New Zealand refused to tour Pakistan for a hastily arranged one-day series last year, citing security fears. “We took as much care as possible and the team safely reached the airport. No Sri Lanka player was critically injured and the fourth umpire, Ahsan Raza, was also out of danger after he was operated upon.” A senior PCB official has urged the international cricket community not to isolate the country following Tuesday's militant attack. “I will only say what happened today is a great tragedy,” PCB director of human resources Wasim Bari said.
