West Indies tour of Pakistan on, says PCB Chairman

The West Indies cricket team will tour Pakistan in February, ending any need for using a neutral venue, said General Tauqir Zia, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The PCB in October shortlisted four sites to host the tour, following the September 11th attacks and subsequent military strikes on neighbouring Afghanistan.

Dhaka in Bangladesh, Sharjah and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and Rabat in Morocco were the venues under consideration.

New Zealand cancelled its Pakistan tour in September and Sri Lanka refused a three-match one-day series later that month. The International Cricket Council ruled that alternative venues would be permitted in cases where it was unsafe to play. Zia maintained his country is ready to host a cricket tour.

"There is no problem and I'm going to insist to the ICC that Pakistan is all right and that people should come and play here," Zia said. "As far as I'm concerned the West Indies tour is already on, they haven't said no, they said 'we are coming.'"

New Zealand would have been able to fulfil its tour commitments, Zia said, adding that the "Under-19 babies of Sri Lanka" finished their tour of Pakistan last week without incident.

The West Indians last toured Pakistan in 1997 and lost all three Tests. The last international cricket event in Pakistan was an Asian Test Championship match against Bangladesh in Multan in August. Pakistan won by an innings and 264 runs.