Bangladesh on hold as Pakistan push Windies to tour

Bangladesh has not yet been confirmed as the neutral venue to host next month's scheduled series between Pakistan and West Indies, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Sunday.

"Let me make it clear that, at this stage, Bangladesh has not been settled as the alternative venue to host the series," said a PCB spokesman.

"Bangladesh is being considered as one of the alternate third-country venues, but our priority...is for the tour to take place in Pakistan."

West Indies, who initially pulled out of the tour amid escalating tensions on the border between Pakistan and India, said earlier this month they were prepared to play the three-Test series at a neutral venue.

Sharjah, Tangiers in Morocco and Dhaka in Bangladesh have been discussed as possible alternative venues at recent PCB meetings.

Bangladesh Cricket Board director Ashraful Haq was reported as saying on Saturday that Pakistan had agreed to play the series in Bangladesh.

Ashraful said Pakistan had decided to play the Tests in Dhaka and the one-day internationals in Sharjah, but that the Bangladesh board had offered to host the whole tour.

West Indies on Tuesday became the third team to refuse to tour Pakistan because of security concerns following the September 11 attacks.

But sources at the PCB insisted at the time they were still hopeful of persuading West Indies to tour.

The PCB spokesman said consultation was in progress between the boards of both countries in an effort to ensure the tour went ahead.

The Pakistan team is already in Bangladesh for their series against the home side and are scheduled to return home on January 26, one day after West Indies are due to arrive in Pakistan -- according to the original tour itinerary.

"We remain hopeful of having the series in Pakistan and the shortage of time does not worry us since we have completed all logistics to host the West Indies team," the spokesman said.

Mail Cricket Editor