PCB unhappy with pull-out, may reject ICC's 10-year programme

In yet another display of its unhappiness at the scrapping of the Indian tour, Pakistan has said it will now give serious thought before endorsing the International Cricket Council's 10-year programme.

"We will have to see if any purpose is served signing the document, because we have to host India at least thrice in 10 years' time. How can the ICC guarantee that they (India) will fulfil their commitments?" PCB chief Lt Gen Tauqir Zia was quoted as saying in the "The News" in Islamabad today.

Zia said the Indian pull-out only vindicated Pakistan's view that ICC's proposed programme was not practical until each and every member country pledged to play against each other according to the itinerary.

"We are certainly going to lodge a strong protest with the ICC at the February meeting and will reject the proposed 10-year plan," Zia said, according to the daily. He said if India continued to pull out of international commitments, Pakistan stood to lose millions of dollars from television rights and sponsorship deals.

Zia said he knew for a fact that the Indian Cricket Board had approached the government to renew the tour and "it was only after getting some response that they approached us to study the possibility of a short tour in January. It's sad that their government has yet again rejected the request. We were expecting a positive response Wednesday morning... It's quite disappointing for us, especially because it's they (Indian Board) who initiated the efforts and I was very hopeful we would finally host the Indians next month," Zia said.