CWI, PCB in talks about December tour

ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC):

Cricket West Indies (CWI) Chief Executive Officer Johnny Grave said he will be speaking with officials from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) about the West Indies tour of Pakistan in December.

The tour came into sharp focus following last Friday’s abandonment of New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan and England’s decision on Monday to withdraw from men’s and women’s tours, citing security threats.

“(We’re) speaking to the PCB (yesterday),” Grave told the Trinidad Newsday newspaper.

West Indies hosted Pakistan in July and August for two Tests and four Twenty20 Internationals and they are expected to play three One Day Internationals (ODI) and three T20s on the reciprocal visit at the end of this year.

Top teams have largely shunned Pakistan following an attack on the Sri Lanka team bus 12 years ago that killed six policemen and two civilians.

But regular tours of the country restarted three years ago, when a second-string West Indies team, led by Jason Mohammed, became the first side other than Zimbabwe to play in the country after the attack.

Since then, Pakistan have been trying to woo back all the international teams and the Sri Lankans have returned, with South Africa and Bangladesh following suit.

With international teams choosing not to tour because of security fears, the Pakistanis have played most of their home matches in the past 12 years in the United Arab Emirates, often in front of sparse crowds.

NO AFGHAN CONFIRMATION

At the same time, Grave said there was no confirmation from the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) about a proposed three-way series with Australia ahead of next month’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

“No news from the ACB,” Grave told Newsday. “We are planning to head to the UAE in early October to (go) through our mandatory six-day quarantine before having a few days training ahead of the International Cricket Council support period and our two warm-up games against India and Pakistan.”

Coincidentally, India announced the dates for a West Indies limited-overs tour next February during a busy period for the Caribbean side.

INDIA, WI ODIS

The Indian cricket board disclosed that the Windies will play three ODIs on February 6 in Ahmedabad, February 9 in Jaipur, and February 12 in Kolkata.

West Indies will also face the Indians in three T20s on February 15 at Cuttack, February 18 at Visakhapatnam, and February 20 at Thiruvananthapuram.

This tour will be part of a hectic international schedule for the Windies early next year.

They are set to host England in five T20s in January, as well as Ireland for three ODIs and three T20 Internationals.

England will then return to the Caribbean for three Tests in March.