Sri Lanka to host the Asia Cup

Sri Lanka will host the six-nation Asia Cup, to be staged from July 16 to August 2, it was announced today after they signed a hosting agreement with the Asian Cricket Council.

Mohan de Silva, Sri Lanka's president, told reporters: "We are pleased to announce that we have come to an agreement as to the details of this tournament, and we are looking forward to staging it in this country."

Jagmohan Dalmiya, chairman of the Asia Cup organising committee, and Ashraful Huq, the chief executive of the ACC, flew to Colombo to meet with Sri Lanka officials. The pair also met with the Sri Lankan prime minister to confirm government support for the tournament.

The Asia Cup, last played at Dhaka in June 2000, has been reintroduced after the resumption of bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan. The ACC expects the tournament to now be staged every two years in addition to the Asian Test Championship.

"Cricket in Asia was suffering because India and Pakistan were not playing," said Dalmiya at a media briefing. "We need the four main teams in Asia to be playing against each other if we are to develop cricket in the region. We are confident that the tournament can be played every two years, but the current ICC 10-year plan leaves us with a very heavy schedule. This must be revised and we will be taking up the matter during the ICC board meeting in June."

The tournament will include two round-robin stages, starting with two groups of three. This will be followed by a Super Four stage, and then the final. A total of 13 one-dayers will be played, with nine matches to be played under lights. Three venues are to be used: Sinhalese Sports Club, Premadasa International Stadium and the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.

Schedule
Group A - Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong
Group B - Sri Lanka, India, UAE

Phase one:
Fri July 16 - Bangladesh v Hong Kong (SSC), India v UAE (Dambulla)
Sat July 17 - Pakistan v Bangladesh (SSC), Sri Lanka v UAE (Dambulla)
Sun July 18 - Pakistan v Hong Kong (SSC), Sri Lanka v India (Dambulla)

Phase two:
Wed July 21 - A2 v B2 (SSC), A1 v B1 (Premadasa)
Fri July 23 - A2 v B1 (Premadasa)
Sun July 25 - A1 v B2 (Premadasa)
Tue July 27 - B1 v B2 (Premadasa)
Thu July 29 - A1 v A2 (Premadasa)
Sun Aug 01 - Final (Premadasa)
Mon Aug 02 - Reserve day