Matches in the 2011 World Cup due to be staged in Pakistan will not take place in the United Arab Emirates, according to International Cricket Council president David Morgan. Instead the 14 fixtures will, despite the wishes of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), take place in the three Indian sub-continent co-host nations of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Morgan said the Dubai-based ICC had looked at staging matches in a "fifth country", amid speculation that matches could be shifted to the UAE.
But he told reporters at Lord's on Thursday: "The (ICC) board has considered that but it has decided the 14 matches originally allocated to Pakistan should take place in the three other Indian sub-continent countries of the Full Members, that is India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh." The number of games to be played in each of those countries has yet to be decided. The ICC has referred the matter back to the tournament's central organising committee and Morgan said he expected a decision within a fortnight.
"We need a recommendation from those four host nations, including Pakistan. They will come forward with the location of those matches to the commercial board of the ICC." Asked how long it would take for the ICC to receive that decision, Morgan said: "I would expect two weeks." The ICC ruled out matches in violence-hit Pakistan following the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore on March 3 while it was on its way to the Gadaffi stadium to resume a Test match.
But Pakistan, who last weekend beat Sri Lanka in the World Twenty20 final at Lord's, remains a co-host of the World Cup. *AFP
