Mani wants PCB to submit report on terror attack to ICC

Published Sat, Jul 03 10 06:52 PM

Karachi, Jul 3 (PTI) Former ICC President Ehsan Mani does not foresee international cricket returning to Pakistan until the PCB submits its report on the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan team in Lahore last year. Mani blamed the Pakistan Cricket Board for putting itself in a situation where there is no hope of international cricket returning to the trouble-torn country in near future. "The PCB has not sent any report on the attack on the Sri Lankan team as yet to the ICC even though I know for a fact that the ICC has asked the PCB to send a report a few times," Mani said. Mani told the Geo Super channel that he was at a loss to understand why the PCB had not sent the report as yet to the ICC. "Until the PCB sends this report to the ICC, I don''t see international cricket returning to Pakistan with the support of the ICC and its member countries," he said. The ICC this week didn''t allot any of its international events to Pakistan in the calendar announced until 2015 though Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India have all been given big tournaments. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will host the next two T20 World Cups in 2012 and 2014. The PCB has also not indicated as yet whether it even bid for hosting rights of any event. Suspected militants attacked the touring Sri Lankan team bus in March last year in which five Pakistani policemen and a driver were killed and five Sri Lankan players were wounded. Following the incident the teams have refused to play in Pakistan while the ICC has also shifted away the 2011 World Cup matches from the country on security grounds. Pakistan since then has been forced to play its home matches at neutral venues in the United Arab Emirates. It has scheduled a ''home'' series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai later this year after the South Africans also made it clear that they wouldn''t tour Pakistan. Mani said that the decision to not allot any event to Pakistan until 2015 was not surprising. He said although the ICC could revise its calendar in five years time but for things to change and international cricket to return to Pakistan the PCB would has to be pro-active. "Pakistan has to take the ICC and member countries into confidence and share the report of the Sri Lankan incident," he said. Mani, a Pakistani who is settled in the United Kingdom, headed the International Cricket Council from 2003-2006. The Pakistan government has so far not taken any disciplinary action against some senior police officials, who were blamed for negligence and security lapses by an judicial inquiry tribunal that probed into the incident. The police officials were blamed for negligence that allowed the attack to take place. Police in Punjab claim to have arrested the main masterminds of the attack that rocked the cricket world.

Source: Web Search