South Africa reject Pakistan's request for schedule change
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Cricket South Africa (CSA) has turned down the Pakistan Cricket Board's
(PCB) request to alter the dates of Pakistan's tour to South Africa
starting February 2013 citing busy international schedule as the reason.
The PCB had requested the change to expand the current 12-day window
for its proposed Twenty20 league that follows the South Africa tour in
March.
"We wanted to expand our window (for the T20 league), but they (CSA)
didn't agree so we decided to continue as per the Future Tours
Programme," Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chairman, told ESPNcricinfo. "CSA told
the PCB that they had already announced and sold tickets and it was not
possible to make any change."
Pakistan are set to launch their T20 premier league in March and were
hoping to have a bigger window while avoiding a clash with the 2013
season of IPL that starts from April 3. They are Scheduled
to play three Tests, five ODIs and two T20s between February 1 and
March 24, 2013 and wanted the dates to be advanced. However, South
Africa will be busy hosting New Zealand in December and January.
"They (PCB) asked us to move the tour earlier but it was just not
possible because of our schedule," Jacques Faul, the acting CSA chief
executive, told ESPNcricinfo. "We always try to accommodate other
countries but we can't always manage. The program is very busy these
days. We also play our domestic competitions while tours are ongoing."
Meanwhile, the PCB is expediting the staging of the inaugural T20
premier league. One of the purposes of the league is to take steps
towards the revival of international cricket in Pakistan by inviting
overseas players to participate. The confidence has increased after the
success of the matches played between International XI and Pakistan All
Star XI in Karachi recently that saw international players for the first
time in Pakistan since the attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in March
2009.
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KARACHI: Pakistan Sunday postponed their tour to Zimbabwe to next year as the dates clashed with a limited over series with their arch-rivals India.
(Admin: Owais)
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