The Pakistan Cricket Board has sought government approval to forward a high-level review to the International Cricket Council regarding last year's terror attack on the Sri Lankan team at Lahore. PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said Tuesday once the government gives the go ahead, the report will be sent to the ICC. Sarwar declined to give a timeline. A panel of Lahore High Court judges compiled the report after gunmen killed six policemen and a van driver in Lahore when they attacked a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers to a test match in March last year. Several Sri Lankan cricketers were injured in the attack. Critics have questioned why it has taken Pakistan so long to provide the international cricket community with the review. “It was a judicial inquiry and we require permission from the government to dispatch the report to ICC,” Sarwar said. Pakistan was dropped as co-host of the 2011 World Cup after the attack, and has been barred from hosting any international cricket since. Sarwar said the PCB is looking for a way to revive international cricket in Pakistan with the help of ICC. “ICC is the supreme cricket body and together we are trying our best to see international teams returning to Pakistan in the near future,” he said. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat recently suggested a hand-picked international team be selected to tour Pakistan late next year – depending on the advice of security experts. Lorgat also expressed his willingness to accompany the team to Pakistan. The ICC this month appointed former England captain Mike Brearley and ex-Australia captain Greg Chappell as ambassadors to encourage the cricket community to support the PCB while its unable to host international matches. English ball could give Pakistan the advantage The type of cricket balls used in England will give the Pakistan bowlers a huge advantage over the home side in the four-Test series starting this week, former Pakistan players said Monday. “English batsmen will be tested against our bowlers because the English conditions and the Duke cricket ball they use in England suit our bowlers a lot,” former Pakistan captain Moin Khan said. Pakistani pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer have shared 61 wickets in the seven Tests they have played together since November. “The English pitches remain soft and have moisture because of the weather and the Duke ball has a more prominent seam and hard leather which makes it easier for our bowlers to swing and seam the ball around,” former fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz said. Nawaz said the Pakistani bowlers were more comfortable using the Duke ball because similar brands were used in domestic cricket. Former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who is now settled in England, said: “Our bowlers enjoy bowling in England because of the conditions and I remember Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis used to be virtually unplayable in England.” At present host countries chose the type of cricket ball they find more suitable for their conditions but Pakistan's former chief selector Abdul Qadir said the ICC should consider using the same brand everywhere for test matches to make matches more competitive. “This would mean no team would have an advantage and it would boil down to the skill of the bowling side,” Qadir said.
