DUBAI : Pakistan's new cricket chief Zaka Ashraf Monday vowed to bring
international cricket back to the country, suggesting the game's
governing body could form a board to assess security before teams'
tours.International cricket has been suspended in Pakistan
since terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009,
which left eight people dead and seven visiting players and their
assistant coach injured.Those incidents, coupled with
continued security fears in Pakistan, have led to refusals by
international teams to tour the troubled country, where the national
army is fighting militancy and a resurgency by the Taliban.Ashraf,
who replaced Ijaz Butt as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman last
month, said his first task is to bring international cricket back to the
country."We are doing our level best to bring international
cricket back to Pakistan," Ashraf, who met International Cricket
Council (ICC) officials, told AFP. "I have suggested the ICC should form
a board to assess security in Pakistan.After the terrorist attacks of 2009, the ICC was forced to strip Pakistan of its share of matches in the 2011 World Cup.Sri
Lanka also turned down an invitation to tour Pakistan after a military
base was attacked in Karachi in May this year, forcing them to play the
series in the United Arab Emirates.Ashraf, regarded as a
close friend of Pakistan president Asif Zardari, said he can take help
from the government on implementing security for international teams."Once
the ICC forms a security board we can also take help from the
government and implement the best arrangements for international teams,"
said Ashraf.Ashraf said Pakistani fans are deprived of international cricket.What
happened in Pakistan was disappointing and that left millions of fans
in our country deprived of international cricket and we now seek help
from the cricket world to restore activity so that our fans get to see
that," said Ashraf.International Cricket Council (ICC) chief
executive Haroon Lorgat, who met Ashraf on Monday, said the ICC was
doing its best to revive cricket in Pakistan."It was
something that could not get much time (for consideration) due to the
spot-fixing issue, but now in order to have some teams playing in
Pakistan the security situation has to be considered," said Lorgat.Ashraf said he has also written to Indian cricket chiefs to revive what he termed the "mother of all cricket" series.I
have written to Narayan Srinivasan (President of the Board of Control
for Cricket in India) to revive the series between the two countries
because it's a game and should be kept away from politics," said Ashraf.It is a move backed by Lorgat. India-Pakistan
is a seriously important fixture. It is also something which Ashraf has
uppermost in his mind and we will support that. We can make a request
to India, it is up to India to decide where they want to play.Ashraf said he has also met Bangladesh Cricket Board officials to break the ice.I
have also met Bangladesh officials and in order to break the ice. I
have invited them to tour Pakistan and I hope they reply in a positive
way
