ICC to brief teams on Trophy security

International Cricket Council (ICC) representatives will travel to four participating nations to allay safety fears over travelling to Pakistan for next month's Champions Trophy, it said on Wednesday.

The delegations would travel to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and England, who have reservations over playing in Pakistan for the one-day event starting on Sept. 12, and brief them on the arrangements, the ICC statement said.

Faced with a possible boycott, the sport's governing body formed a task force that visited Pakistan on Tuesday to assess arrangements in the country, which has witnessed a spate of suicide bombings over the past several months.

It removed Rawalpindi as a venue, retaining only Lahore and Karachi.

ICC chief Haroon Lorgat will head the group to England while the team to Australia and New Zealand will include Tim May, chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) and Pakistan's Australian coach Geoff Lawson.

"Our desire is to ensure that every stakeholder is content with arrangements and is comfortable with the ICC Champions Trophy taking place in Pakistan," ICC president David Morgan said.

The ICC would receive the feedback on Aug. 20 to further fine tune arrangements, it added.

"We are committed to a safe and secure event in Pakistan," Morgan said. "We believe these visits and the feedback we get from them will play a major role in us achieving those ends."

Australia and New Zealand players were advised by their players' associations last month not to travel to Pakistan, after the South African players' body criticised the ICC decision not to move the tournament from Pakistan.

Besides the hosts, West Indies, India and Sri Lanka are the other teams taking part in a tournament regarded second only in importance to the World Cup.

Organisers issued a revised schedule on Wednesday.

Sept 12 - Pakistan v West Indies - Lahore

Sept 13 - Australia v India - Karachi

Sept 14 - Sri Lanka v England - Lahore

Sept 14 - South Africa v New Zealand - Karachi

Sept 15 - Pakistan v Australia - Karachi

Sept 16 - South Africa v Sri Lanka - Lahore

Sept 17 - England v New Zealand - Lahore

Sept 18 - India v West Indies - Karachi

Sept 19 - New Zealand v Sri Lanka - Lahore

Sept 20 - India v Pakistan - Karachi

Sept 21 - Australia v West Indies - Lahore

Sept 21 - England v South Africa - Karachi

Sept 24 - semi-final - Karachi

Sept 25 - reserve day

Sept 26 - semi-final - Lahore

Sept 27 - reserve day

Sept 28 - final - Lahore

Sept 29 - reserve day


Courtesy Yahoo