Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan in doubt

Sri Lanka's unscheduled cricket tour to Pakistan for a three-match one-day international series was in doubt after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Sri Lanka High Commission in Pakistan failed to safeguard the safety of the players in the event of a crisis. The Sri Lanka Cricket Board have been in touch with the PCB and the Sri Lanka High Commission and this latest response nearly rules out the team from going to Pakistan.

Cricket Board sources said that they will be speaking to the Pakistan cricket authorities again today, before arriving at a final decision. Sources said that the High Commission had stated that everything was normal in Pakistan, but they cannot guarantee if anything went wrong. What has made the Sri Lanka Board anxious is the PCB's inability to guarantee the safety of the players in the event a war breaks out in neighbouring Afghanistan where there has been a big build up of American troops.

"We seriously want to help the PCB. Pakistan came to our aid when we had problems staging some of the 1996 World Cup matches here and we owe it to them when they are in a financial crisis, but this is a totally different situation," Cricket Board sources said. "The PCB knows we are doing our best to send our team across, but after hearing yesterday's news the players have got cold feet," sources said. "What we fear is if Pakistan is declared a no-fly zone by NATO," sources said.