Sri Lanka and Pakistan go straight to final of Asian Test Championship

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have agreed to cancel their meaningless round robin game in the Asian Test Championship (ATC) and play a straight final from March 6-10 at Lahore, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced Tuesday.

"The dates of the second Asian Championship final were decided after we got the consent of both the boards involved," ACC secretary Zakir Hussain Syed told AFP news agency at Karachi.

All parties will be relieved to complete a tournament, designed to be a major source of revenue for Asian cricket, which flopped after India pulled out last September because of increasing hostilities in India-administered Kashmir.

Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka had crushed Bangladesh by an innings in September, guaranteeing their respective places in the final, making their proposed group game, originally scheduled for February, unnecessary.

"We have a disappointing Asian Championship because of India's withdrawal," said Syed admitted, "and since the event was a major revenue-earner for us we suffered badly."

Syed estimates that India's last-minute withdrawal had cost the ACC an estimated $30million. "We hope to get a sponsor for the final, but it's still much below earnings than the last time."

Efforts are now focused on renewing cricket ties in time for the Asia Cup - a six nation one-day tournament - later this year in Pakistan.

Pakistan, at least, will be delighted to welcome back international cricket after the US invasion in Afghanistan prompted the cancellation of tours by New Zealand and Sri Lanka, plus the rescheduling of the West Indies series in Sharjah.

Indeed, Pakistan's Cricket Board (PCB) had also proposed a five-match one-day series in addition to the ATC final according to AFP, but the Sri Lankan Board turned that down with the team preparing in March for the forthcoming tour of England.