da apostebet： SYDNEY – The Australian Cricket Board wants to play Pakistan in Octoberat a neutral venue rather than have the series postponed, chiefexecutive James Sutherland said today.
AAP14-Aug-2002SYDNEY – The Australian Cricket Board wants to play Pakistan in Octoberat a neutral venue rather than have the series postponed, chiefexecutive James Sutherland said today.Speaking on Fox Sports News, Sutherland said it was the ACB’s preferenceto play the three-Test series in the scheduled October 1-29 window.”What we’ve said to the Pakistan Cricket Board is that we’re very keenfor these matches to be played in October as scheduled and hopefullythat’s the approach they’re taking,” Sutherland said.Australia last week refused to play the Tests in Pakistan because ofplayer safety concerns but it would consider a neutral venue.Sutherland said that if the series did not go ahead in October, it wouldbe postponed to a year or two down the track, as was the case with theseries against Zimbabwe, which was put back two years after Australiarefused to tour earlier this year for safety reasons.”It’s not a matter if the matches get played but a matter of when,”Sutherland said.Pakistan was desperate to host the matches, citing financial hardshipafter nearly 12 months of virtually no cricket in the Islamic statefollowing the September 11 attacks on the US.Sutherland was sympathetic to Pakistan.”This [Australia tour] is the third tour [to Pakistan] this calendaryear that’s either been aborted or cancelled.”We know what sort of implication that would have for us – you can onlyimagine the significant financial impact in Pakistan.”Sutherland said he was aware that Bangladesh, Sharjah and Sri Lanka hasbeen mentioned as possible venues but wouldn’t be drawn on anypreferences, although his comments on the Test-worthiness of groundsappeared to rule out Sharjah and Bangladesh.”It’s not easy to make grounds available. In terms of preparing wicketsand grounds for Test cricket, it’s difficult – the wicket needs to lastfive days.”One of the reasons we made the decision now is to make sure thePakistanis have an opportunity to access the grounds and start workingthrough that.”However, with only two Test grounds in Bangladesh – Dhaka andChittagong, which have a hosted a grand total of 20 days worth of Testcricket between them in three years – it’s unlikely a three-Test seriescould be played in that country.And it’s also unlikely Sharjah – traditionally a one-day venue – couldsurvive three back-to-back Tests.Sri Lanka has three recognised Test venues – Colombo, Galle and Kandy.