Pakistan face obstacles in UAE series bid

Pakistan will have to seek the International Cricket Council (ICC) board’s permission if they are to stage seven Twenty20 matches against Australia in the UAE this summer. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which is exploring the possibility of staging a limited-overs series here, is likely to call off the five One Day International matches originally scheduled for the August series and instead play seven Twenty20 matches starting at 8pm to avoid the worst of the heat and humidity. But that could take them above the number of T20 games any nation is allowed to play in a single year. When asked whether the ICC would have any concerns over such a large number of T20 matches being played during a series, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: “We have scheduling guidelines and the maximum number of T20 internationals that can be played in any 12-month period is 12. In a world Twenty20 year we have allowed it to go up to 15. So that is the first guideline that Pakistan will have to take into account in the fixtures against Australia. “If they wish to exceed that they need to seek an application and the chief executive committee will consider that based on the fact that they have got challenges with hosting matches. It is a valid reason and I don’t speculate that the committee will consider it.” From gulfnews