Another pull out looms large

Speed said in an interview on Australian television: “Our current rules say the first option is to go to the visiting country and see if it can be played there. “If the tournament can be run at a profit we would like it to go ahead.”

The two boards will discuss the issue over the next two weeks when Australia play host to Pakistan in a three-game limited overs series starting on Wednesday.

The tour to Pakistan is almost certain to be scrapped following the suicide bombing in Karachi in early May which led to New Zealand terminating their tour. The bombing took place outside the hotel being used by both teams.

Several Australian players have since said they do not want to travel to Pakistan.

‘No split in cricket’

Dubai: Asia has become the nerve centre of cricket and the biggest power-base of the sport and the world of cricket will remain united and as long as it remains so, according to Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF) president Jagmohan Dalmiya.

Regarding the popular view that world cricket was heading for a split, Muscat-based Times of Oman today quoted Dalmiya as saying, ‘‘There will never be a split. You know what happens in a democratic world, the principles of democracy are followed. That means whoever has got the majority support will run the show. Therefore, the question of split doesn’t arise as long as the power-base remains in Asia.’’

Dalmiya also refused to read too much into the anomaly of ICC having the president and the chief executive from the same country – Australia. ‘‘This is a mere coincidence that Malcolm Speed and Malcolm Gray are from the same country.”