Government must take initiative - Sohail

Aamer Sohail: "It is the president's duty to speak to individual countries and convince them to come over and play in Pakistan".

As concerns grow over whether or not the Champions Trophy will be held in Pakistan, there is a feeling Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf should convince nations such as Australia and England not to give the event a miss if it is staged here.

Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi are scheduled to host the tournament in September but growing fears over the turbulence have led to some players expressing unease about playing here. The boards of Australia, England and New Zealand are awaiting the assessment of a team of security experts that was in Pakistan during the just-concluded Asia Cup before they make a final decision. Sri Lanka is the official alternative venue should the tournament be moved away.

Aamer Sohail, former Test opener and captain, believes Musharraf, who is also patron of the PCB, should be more proactive. "It is the president's duty to speak to individual countries and convince them to come over and play in Pakistan," Sohail told Cricinfo.

"What is happening in the country is basically the result of Pakistan leading this war against terror," Sohail said. "We are paying for fighting it. Countries such as Australia and England are our allies in this war on terror, yet they are not supporting us here. Are we real allies or are we just being used?"

Earlier in the year, Australia pulled out of a full tour to the country due to security fears but the successful, untroubled hosting of the Asia Cup in Lahore and Karachi was supposed to have eased the way for the Champions Trophy. A spate of bombings since, however, have once again cast doubt over the tournament, the ICC saying that they too were awaiting a report from their security consultants before taking a final decision on the venue. A bomb in Islamabad on the night of the final - in Karachi - killed ten people, while Karachi experienced seven low-intensity blasts the very next day.

"If the tournament isn't held here because of these reasons," Sohail said, "it will be a really sad day for Pakistan cricket. It is an unfair price for us to pay. This tournament is a real test of our role in this war: after eight years in the front-line, is this our reward - that we miss out on hosting this tournament? The onus is on the president to convince countries that it is safe to play in Pakistan and that sport has never been targeted here. The ICC and PCB are going the whole hog in ensuring it happens here but the president can really help with his involvement."

A board official also backed the idea, further arguing that the country's foreign office should play a role. "The ICC and PCB will try their level best to make sure it happens in Pakistan, but it is upto individual governments to ensure their teams come. And the president's input here can really help."

Musharraf attended the Asia Cup final between India and Sri Lanka, where he spoke at the post-match ceremony about the need for cricket to go on despite the bombings. "But the fight against terrorism must go on and life must continue. We have to fight terrorism together," he said. "Such healthy competitions are important and necessary for Pakistan and in this region. I congratulate the Pakistan board and the Asian Cricket Council for organising this event successfully."

Symonds unsure over safety in Pakistan

Andrew Symonds is not ready to go to Pakistan yet.

Andrew Symonds, the Australian allrounder, is not yet convinced about players' safety in Pakistan, the venue of the Champions Trophy in September. Symonds had expressed reservations ahead of Australia's scheduled tour to Pakistan earlier this year, which was postponed.

Although Pakistan recently hosted the Asia Cup concerns have grown following attacks in Islamabad, the capital, and in the port city of Karachi the last week.

"My feelings haven't changed a great deal," Symonds said on his arrival from the West Indies. "I don't mind the odd game of cricket for Australia, but it is only a game at the end of the day, and putting yourself in a position where you're not safe, to me is ridiculous."

Symonds' opinion, though, was in complete contrast to fellow Queensland allrounder Shane Watson. "Personally, I'd go anywhere, I'll play anywhere, I just want to play for my country," Watson said. The ODI series in the West Indies marked Watson's comeback to the team after more than a year, and he's ready to play for Australia anywhere.

"That's what I've worked so hard for, the injuries I've had, pretty up and down times over the last year, so I'd do anything to play for my country so wherever we have to go, I'll go."

Michael Clarke, who captained Australia in Ricky Ponting's absence for the final two ODIs, declined to comment, leaving the issue to the game's administrators. Clarke said he would wait to hear what Cricket Australia, the Australian Cricketers' Association and the International Cricket Council decided on the issue.

Ponting had indicated last month players were still uneasy over touring Pakistan last month. Cricket Australia is expected to take a decision within two weeks, while the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) chief executive Paul Marsh said decision will not be made before it get reports from its security experts and the Federation of International Cricket Associations. The ICC is yet to make its final decision on Pakistan conducting the tournament. Sri Lanka is the alternate host for the Champions Trophy, but South Africa have also been tipped as a replacement.

Australia are drawn in a pool comprising India, Pakistan and the West Indies, and are scheduled to play their first match against India in Lahore on September 13. Symonds, Clarke and Watson have been named in Australia's their preliminary 30-man squad for the tournament.

ICC forms committee on 'unauthorised cricket'

The Indian Cricket League might get the ICC's authorisation to conduct exhibition games.

The ICC has taken the first significant step towards resolving the contentious issue of unauthorised cricket - including the status of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) - by setting up a high-powered committee to study its legal aspects. It has also discussed the issue of global agreements to prevent cricketers from appearing in such games, Cricinfo has learnt.

The committee, which was formalised during the ICC's annual meeting in Dubai last week, includes Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, Norman Arendse, the Cricket South Africa president, Shashank Manohar, the BCCI's president-elect, Lalit Modi, a vice-president of the BCCI [and the IPL's chairman and commissioner] and David Becker, the ICC's senior counsel - business and commercial.

The committee was set up after officials were made aware the ICL may explore the possibility of coming under the governing body's umbrella as "a kind of authorised unofficial cricket" under a specific rule that deals with exhibition matches and other games of a similar nature. It is understood that preliminary discussions took place in Bangalore during a meeting of key ICC board members on April 18, before the inaugural IPL game.

When asked about the committee and its objectives, an ICC spokesperson said, "The purpose of the group is to ensure that whatever conclusion is reached is in the best interests of the game."

The issue of the ICL and its status came into focus on the sidelines of the ICC annual meeting last week when officials from India, England, Australia and South Africa met for a discussion on the proposed Twenty20 Champions League.

While India, Australia and South Africa are clear that players associated with the ICL cannot take part in the league, England will have to take a tough call on the issue as around 25 ICL players are currently playing for 15 English counties. Officially, the ECB does not support any involvement with unofficial cricket but, in this situation, has to operate within the stringent trade laws in England.

The ICC, meanwhile, has also sent a letter to the ICL seeking details of its correspondence with the BCCI on the issue of their status in the game. An ICL official told Cricinfo the letter was received last week and added the league is yet to send its response. Himanshu Mody, the ICL's business head, confirmed the development to Cricinfo but declined to comment on it. When asked about the letter, the ICC spokesperson said, "Dialogue and correspondence on the subject is ongoing."

According to ICL officials, they had first written to the BCCI in April 2007 informing them about their plans to hold a city-based Twenty20 league. "But they reacted harshly to the issue," an official said.

The BCCI is very clear it would not budge on the ICL. "We had received two or three letters from the ICL, but we made our position very clear early that they cannot be recognised," a BCCI official said. The BCCI has barred all official contact with players associated with ICL and expects all other members of the ICC to align with them on the issue.

The ICL has already organised three Twenty20 tournaments and a 50-over competition but its status was placed on the international cricket stage this April by Malcolm Speed, the former ICC CEO, who said the governing body had received a letter from the league seeking clarity on their existence. Speed, who was since told to go on "paid leave" by the ICC before his successor Haroon Lorgat took charge last week, had also said that the issue was being handled by the ICC's lawyers.

Later, Dave Richardson, who took over from Speed on an interim basis, said the ICC would go by the BCCI's policy towards ICL. "The ICL is a domestic event that takes place in India so our rules prescribe that any decision as to whether an event be regarded as official or not must be made by the country that event is played in," Richardson had said.