PCB wants ACC board meeting to finalise Asia Cup details

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has called for convening an urgent meeting of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Board at the earliest and not later than February 2023 to discuss the formalities involved in the Asia Cup to be hosted by Pakistan in September.

A source within the PCB has told ‘The News’ that a letter has been sent to the ACC to convene its Board meeting at the earliest more realistically in February to discuss the formalities involved in hosting the Asia Cup.

“PCB Management Committee Chairman Najam Sethi is already in Dubai and had a fruitful meeting with a few officials of the ACC member countries. The PCB has also sent a letter of request to convene the ACC Board meeting to not only discuss the details about the Asia Cup to be hosted by Pakistan in September but also a recent move by the ACC Management and the Marketing committees where a calendar of events was finalised. The PCB believes that unless and until such a calendar gets the approval of the PCB Board, it should not have been made public. Since Pakistan is to host the Asia Cup later this year, the PCB also wants to finalise the details in presence of all the member countries so that the proper preparations could be started in time. Besides finalizing the venues, there are other important decisions to be taken in the ACC meeting to hold the event in an effective way. We have yet to finalise the cities that will be hosting Asia Cup matches and how many teams will make it to the event. Asia Cup hosting is all the more important as it will serve as a prelude to the World Cup starting in India in October.”

The official hoped that the ACC Board meeting in February would help us kickstart the preparations for the cup.

Meanwhile, to a question about the Afghanistan Board's interest in hosting Pakistan for a three-match One-Day series, he said the interest was shown by the Afghan Board.

“There is a lot to be looked into before finalising such a series. Afghanistan has expressed the desire to play the series in March but for Pakistan, it is just not possible. The Pakistan Super League (PSL) eighth edition gets underway in the second week of February and will run till March 20. The expected start of holy month of Ramazan is around March 23. After Eid, we will start hosting New Zealand for five ODIs and as many T20 internationals. Then comes the summer when it would be tough to play any international matches under hot weather. However, still both the boards can sit and work out as what should be the best time for such a series,” the official said. ‘The News’ has also learnt that the PCB has made some progress to lure one of the leading names for the head coach job with the Pakistan national team.

“There is no truth that the PCB is facing any hurdles in hiring a well-reputed coach for the national team.