Will request ICC to set up special fund for Pakistan: PCB chief

The PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan on Monday said he would request the ICC to set up a special fund for Pakistan cricket to compensate for the heavy revenue losses it bears due to the absence of international cricket in the country.

With no international cricket team touring Pakistan since March 2009 when militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, Shaharyar said the Pakistan Cricket Board had suffered losses in millions of dollars of revenues.

“We want to use this special fund to develop and promote cricket in Pakistan,” Shaharyar, who is scheduled to represent Pakistan at the annual ICC meetings from June 27 in Edinburgh, told PTI prior to his departure for London.

“We will request the International Cricket Council and member countries to put aside a small percentage of its income from ICC events for this special fund for Pakistan cricket,” he added.

Forced to organise its “home” series at neutral venues, mainly the United Arab Emirates, the PCB said that UAE was not proving very cost effective for them. 

In order to save money, the PCB wanted to hold its “home” series against the West Indies later this year in Sri Lanka, but it did not work out as the Island nation gets heavy rains at most of their main venues during the scheduled series in September-October.

The PCB chief, a former career diplomat, admitted that until the security situation improved in the country, it would not be in a position to convince any board to send its team or even host any ICC team or event.