ICC has messed up by delaying decision on Champions Trophy

[vadodaravictor]

Get some popcorn and watch tamasha:giggle:

[Guest dada_rocks]

Actualky they meant they won't turn up in thefield with bat and ball. Wonder why they had to make it official this time.. Don't we already know this

[SachDan]

Cricket Australia denies pulling out of Champions Trophy 21 Aug, 2008 AGENCIES KARACHI: Cricket Australia on Wednesday denied reports that it had pulled out of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, saying it was still waiting for a final word from the ICC before taking any decision. CA spokesman Peter Young said reports suggesting that Australia had pulled out were not true: "No, that is not true. We have not pulled out. But we have considerable concern." The ICC board will have a telephone hook-up on Sunday, where a final decision on staging the event in Pakistan is expected. Top ICC officials, including president David Morgan, vice-president Sharad Pawar and chief executive Haroon Lorgat met in Dubai on Wednesday to discuss feedback from task team briefings with stakeholders from England, Australia and New Zealand, and decided to hold a teleconference of the task team on Friday, followed by the board meeting two day later. Meanwhile, Pakistan has invited wavering foreign teams to inspect security arrangements in a last-ditch bid to keep next month’s tournament from being shifted or cancelled. Also on Wednesday, the England and Wales Cricket Board said if Australia opted out, they would follow suit.

[arkay]

Pakistan walking out of CT would not get the desired result. However, if India walks out - ICC would lose nearly 50% of the revenue. So PCB would seek BCCI to side with PCB and boycott the CT. IF BCCI does not budge, there will be clowns like Miandid who would complain / whine that BCCI takes advantage of PCB and does not stand by PCB when there is an issue

[Akshat]

50 killed in twin blasts in Pakistan cantonment today Now what? Isn't Champion's trophy going to be cancelled after this?

[Dirty_South]

Auzzies will definitely not play ! Even we shouldn't play....let the Paki#s play among themselves.

[Sachinism]

Auzzies will definitely not play ! Even we shouldn't play....let the Paki#s play among themselves.

or invite kenya, ireland, zimbabwe, bermuda, namibia, scotland, uae, hong kong and maybe they can start their record pursuit again

[DomainK]

50 killed in twin blasts in Pakistan cantonment today Now what? Isn't Champion's trophy going to be cancelled after this?

50 killed means it was a very powerful blast.

[MundaPakistani]

it was at the military arms factory

[MundaPakistani]

finally a good decision by the PCB. It will be ridiculous to take the CT away from PAK at the very very last moment.

[Mr. Wicket]

More ridiculous than jeopardizing a whole lot of players and putting them in a situation that could potentially do a lot of harm for the game and Pakistan's reputation if even one thing goes bad?

[MundaPakistani]

More ridiculous than jeopardizing a whole lot of players and putting them in a situation that could potentially do a lot of harm for the game and Pakistan's reputation if even one thing goes bad?

They have had several of these meetings and could have moved the CT away from PAK a lot earlier. some what surprising that the Indian players feel safe enough to head over to the Pakistani beaches in the middle of the night and get drunk yet the Aussies, English and the NZers are afraid to even look at the map of Pakistan.

[Guest dada_rocks]

Hpsitals emergency ward gets blown up army cantonment gets blown up.. now these two incidents tell you one thing (1) these clowns will not spare anything to drive home their point and make their presence felt.. i mean why freaking else will u target hospital.. sickness of jihadis know no bounds (2) If they can breach the security in army cantonment then no place is safe claim of tight security provided to players notwithstanding

[Feed]

Futility of ICC's hardline stance THE International Cricket Council's desperate attempts to keep the Champions Trophy in Pakistan received another setback when two suicide bombers killed at least 45 people and injured more than 60. More... Futility of ICC's hardline stance By Malcolm Conn August 22, 2008 THE International Cricket Council's desperate attempts to keep the Champions Trophy in Pakistan received another setback when two suicide bombers killed at least 45 people and injured more than 60. The Thursday blast, outside Pakistan's main weapons factory 20km west of the capital Islamabad, is the second major suicide bombing in Pakistan in just three days. A suicide bomber killed 23 people in a hospital in Peshawar on Tuesday, just a day after Pervez Musharraf stood down as Pakistan president. The upsurge in violence follows a Taliban declaration on August 6 that it was ready to deploy 20 suicide bombers throughout Pakistan in retaliation for the Western-backed Government's attacks on Islamic extremists in the country's western tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. It has been obvious for months that teams from Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa will not play in strife-torn Pakistan as the country continues its descent into chaos. There are also doubts about West Indies' participation. The tournament should have been moved by the ICC during a full board hook-up last month, but instead an angry Asian bloc wanted to show players who did not want to play in Pakistan who was boss. Such a damaging impasse, which threatens to split world cricket, highlights the leadership vacuum engulfing the ICC following the premature dumping of former chief executive Malcolm Speed. Instead of belated action to save next month's multi-million-dollar Champions Trophy from collapse, the ICC has called yet more meetings. With the tournament due to start on September 12, not even a meeting of new president David Morgan, vice-president Sharad Pawar and chief executive Haroon Lorgat on Wednesday night could act decisively. There had been a hope that Morgan, who flew to ICC headquarters in Dubai from Beijing on Tuesday night, would be able to persuade the game's biggest power broker, Indian board president and government minister Pawar, to convince the Asian bloc that the tournament must be shifted. Now Pakistan has made a tit-for-tat counter-claim, stating it will refuse to play in the Champions Trophy if it is moved to the official standby country of Sri Lanka or anywhere else. "If the ICC shifts the Champions Trophy to any other venue, Pakistan will pull out from the event," acting PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf was quoted as saying in the Dawn newspaper. Instead of acting last month, the ICC formed a taskforce that met with players from the four countries dissenting in a fruitless attempt to convince their players to tour. Now the task force will confer again today and then the full board of the ICC, made up of the presidents and chairmen of the so-called 10 Test-playing countries, will hook up on Sunday for another meeting. If the ICC board, the ICC's ultimate and often incompetent decision-making body, does not decide to move the tournament, it will unravel and broadcaster ESPN-Star is likely to sue the ICC for tens of millions of dollars in compensation. Countries that refuse to compete may then in turn be sued by the ICC. That is why player associations from Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa have all been far more vocal than their boards.

[Feed]

Sri Lanka ready to hold Champions Trophy With the ICC finding it tough to convince apprehensive cricketers on touring Pak for next month's Champions Trophy, Sri Lanka said that it was ready to hold the tournament even at a short notice. More... Sri Lanka ready to hold Champions Trophy Press Trust Of India Colombo, August 22, 2008 First Published: 12:05 IST(22/8/2008) Last Updated: 12:14 IST(22/8/2008) With the ICC finding it tough to convince apprehensive cricketers on touring Pakistan for next month's Champions Trophy, Sri Lanka on Friday said that it was ready to hold the tournament even at a short notice. "We are ready to hold the Champions Trophy as we are the alternate venue for the tournament," Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Executive Duleep Mendis said. "We are in a position to hold the Champions Trophy as Sri Lankais the alternative venue for the ICC event," he added. SLC officials feel that all the grounds are in good condition as the Indian cricket tour is currently on in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, a meeting took place on Wednesday at the ICC's offices in Dubai to discuss the preparations for the Champions Trophy The event, which is scheduled from September 11 to 28, is facing an uncertain future after Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand, raised concerns over touring Pakistan due to the security situation. This is despite the ICC taking a decision on July 24 to hold the championship in Pakistan after getting assurance offull security to the players. Thursday's meeting at Dubai discussed feedback from task team briefings with stakeholders from England, Australia and New Zealand.

[Feed]

ICC has messed up by delaying decision on Champions Trophy Like the United Nations, the ICC is well-intentioned, tries to keep peace amongst its members and fails. More... ICC has messed up by delaying decision on Champions Trophy Harsha Bhogle Posted online: Friday , August 22, 2008 at 0006 hrs IST : Like the United Nations, the ICC is well-intentioned, tries to keep peace amongst its members and fails. It is inevitable and it is foolish to expect much else. At least the UN can point to a huge and diverse group of nations within its fold but the ICC has only eight that it needs to get a consensus from. But we are such a motley group of nations, so vastly different in the way we think, and therefore do, that it is a miracle that cricket sometimes brings us together. Sometimes in friendship, and sometimes grudgingly, we play cricket with each other and other games off the field against each other. And so it is at the moment. It is not the game that separates us but the politics of the world. Within a group of eight, we have two factions digging in their heels and not yielding an inch. Sadly, in this war of perception, of intent and ultimately, of words, no one can win. And we, travellers on this journey, look at our watch as the minutes tick away wondering if the train will ever leave the station; whether we will ever move. From here on the ICC, like with a lot of well intentioned mediators, can only lose. Pakistan are right to say that they have done all they could have done to guarantee security. Certainly they have not been short on effort and almost everyone who has been to Pakistan, and who has been willing to embrace a different culture, has come away with stories of warmth and hospitality. Maybe we in India understand it more easily for like Pakistan, we are accustomed to finding a path in what seems a maze, we are familiar with chaos. When we begin a journey we do not always know how it will end but we know that it will. And we are conditioned to live with such uncertainty. The toilets might overflow occasionally on the train but the samosas might be much better than we anticipated. But just as we expect people to understand us, so must we understand them. It is true that there is a war being fought not too far from Pakistan. It is true that some of the countries that we hope will play the Champions Trophy have troops fighting there; needlessly we might think, but that is the truth too. If I was an Australian cricketer and I read that my country had just shut down its consulates in Lahore and Karachi, I would be uneasy. You could tell me all you want but if I turned to my wife, or to my mother, or to my son, and they implored me not to go, if they said “must you?” I would be torn. I would ask myself if cricket was that important. And I know what I would do. And so this is a time for understanding, not to enact another episode of us and them. Actually, correction. It was a time for understanding. That moment has long gone. Any longer, and the ICC will need magicians, not statesmen. Unless, of course, the idea has been to stretch it out so long that no alternative is feasible. This is now like a limited-overs game where the batting side, having lost early wickets, tries to bat out the overs and a time comes when the required run-rate becomes impossible to achieve. Sadly, it now looks like there is only one solution, er, possibility; play the tournament in Pakistan and play it with the teams that turn up. It would mean that the rights holders do not get what was promised to them and clearly there must be a cost attached to that (as a disclaimer I must add that while I am on contract with ESPN Star Sports as a commentator I have no role to play in their business dealings with the ICC). If someone has to bear the loss, it can only be the ICC. It happens with all businesses. The price of oil goes up, the dollar fluctuates dramatically, somebody launches a new product! But we cannot just talk any more, we cannot just jog to the finish line. When the asking rate gets to 20 an over, you know you are in a boring match. The ICC now needs to say “right, these are the cards we have been dealt with. Now, let’s make the best of it.” But they need to act now. And they cannot force cricket players, human beings, to do something they do not want to. We pay the price for the world we live in.

[DomainK]

When was the last time ICC did not mess up?

[Feed]

South Africa won't travel to Pakistan Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced it won't be sending a team for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, and has requested the ICC to reschedule the tournament. More... Champions Trophy 2008 South Africa won't travel to Pakistan Cricinfo staff August 22, 2008 Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced it won't be sending a team for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, and has requested the ICC to reschedule the tournament. The decision to withdraw from the tournament, the first-such official statement from a participating nation, comes two days before the ICC board's teleconference on Sunday. South Africa will be part of that meeting, where a final decision on stating the tournament is expected. CSA made its decision following the board's meeting with the ICC task force in Johannesburg on Friday. In a statement, CSA said they assessed the presentation made by the team, led by ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, as well as the information available from a number of other security reports, including one from the South African government, before arriving at a conclusion. "After extensive discussions and frank exchange of views, the board resolved not to send our team at this time to Pakistan to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy," Norman Arendse, the CSA president, said. "We respect the right of the Pakistan Cricket Board to stage the tournament and we would urge the ICC to reschedule the tournament as soon as possible." West Indies speak out The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is keeping a close watch on the security situation in Pakistan and will await the ICC task force's report before deciding to sends its players for the tournament. "We all have concern for the players' safety which is an ongoing situation for both the venues and timing of these matches," Deryck Murray, a WICB director, said. "At this stage one has to be very careful with the players' safety and what each country has put in place for their team's well being. We also have to look at what the ICC has to say in the best interest of all." Tony Irish, the South African Cricketers' Association chief executive, said it was a difficult decision, but the right one, keeping in mind the safety of the players. "We appreciate all the efforts of the ICC task team, the PCB, the Pakistan authorities and the security consultants," he said. "The players are naturally disappointed for their fans and the people of Pakistan that they will not have a chance to see them in action in that country in September." Irish had earlier stated the South African team's reluctance to travel to Pakistan, echoing the thoughts of players' bodies in Australia and New Zealand. South Africa's refusal to travel to Pakistan would increase the pressure on other boards to follow suit, which could leave the ICC in a dilemma over the staging of the tournament. It's learnt that both the BCCI and PCB are firm on going ahead with the tournament in Pakistan, and have even said they could withdraw their teams if the tournament is held elsewhere.

[Sachinism]

too many teams are pulling out ICC will find it pretty hard to keep the tournament in Pakistan

[SachDan]

Getting too late for ICC's liking Move the tourney to SriLanka or Middle East.