Sharjah: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has endorsed the Sharjah Cricket Stadium's new facilities ahead of the Test and one-day matches against Sri Lanka to be held in November."Ijaz Butt [chairman of the PCB] visited the stadium and has expressed his delight over the progress we have achieved in renovating the stadium for the Pakistan-Sri Lanka series," Waleed Bukhatir, vice chairman of the Sharjah Cricket Club, told Gulf News."We are delighted with the support from the PCB for bringing big cricket back to this stadium."The renovation work at the stadium is progressing so fast that we will complete it much before the deadline."Butt is happy with the changes to the dressing room and the facilities being created for the spectators."The stadium will stage the third Test match of the series from November 3 to 7, nine years after a five-day game was held there.The fourth one-dayer of the series will be held on November 20, the first involving Test-playing nations since 2003.Thankful"We are thankful to Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the president of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) for allotting these international matches to Sharjah," Bukhatir said."We are working hard to recreate the same glory that made Sharjah a special venue. The access roads to the stadium are more comfortable now for the spectators and since the stadium is centrally located it will be very convenient for the spectators.Bukhatir, who is also the executive member of the Emirates Cricket Board and chairman of the Sharjah Cricket Council's Al Dhaid cricket village, revealed the 16,000 capacity had to be reduced to adhere to the International Cricket Council's rules, creating special areas for players and officials.The officials from the ICC visited the stadium last week to access the progress of our work and whether the changes have been made according to their rules. We have fully followed the rules so that the stadium can be used not only for this series but also for bigger tournaments in the coming years," he said.
