Pakistan outline future itineraries

Pakistan has agreed to play three Tests and seven one-dayers on their tour of India from the first week of November next year, which has been incorporated in the new six-year Future Tours Programme (FTP) of the ICC.

Saleem Altaf, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Director of cricket operations, said on Wednesday after returning from a meeting with ICC officials in Dubai, that Pakistan's viewpoint on the FTP had been accepted and incorporated accordingly.

He said, "It was a good meeting from our point of view because all of our issues have been cleared now by the ICC as far as the FTP is concerned. Our programmes have been accordingly scheduled in the six-year cycle and have been circulated to the members."

In the new FTP, Pakistan will host South Africa from the first week of September to late October and then tour India, from first week of November in 2007. The Asia Cup accordingly will now be hosted by Pakistan in March-April while Australia will tour Pakistan in February-March the same year.

Altaf said that Pakistan would now tour Australia in late 2008 to play three Tests and then return home to play New Zealand. They would then return to Australia for the VB series and finally complete the cycle by going on the return tour to New Zealand. "In the new FTP India will now tour Pakistan in 2009 and 2113 while England will visit in 2010."

Altaf pointed out that since Pakistan's contract with its television agents was till March 2008, the new FTP incorporated all major cricket tours to Pakistan in this period.

"We will be hosting Zimbabwe, West Indies, South Africa and Australia till March of 2008 which allows us to meet our contractual obligations to our television agents and the company which has brought bundled sponsorship rights," he added.

He confirmed that Pakistan had made a bid for the 2008 Champions Trophy but said that India had tabled a resolution, asking for the Champions Trophy tournament to be held every four years instead of its biannual cycle.

"India's resolution and the bids submitted for various ICC events including our bid would now all be decided at the executive board meeting of the ICC on March 21."