Pakistan and India will play a friendly one day cricket match at the Lords
on July 12 to raise funds for a charity headed by Prince Charles.
"The Lords game is confirmed and it is not only for a
good cause but will also provide Pakistani and Indians living in England
to watch their teams in action at a neutral ground," a Pakistan Cricket
Board official said.
He said the England and Wales Cricket Board would organise
the event and was confident it would be a huge success.
The official also said Pakistan and Indian cricket officials
will hold a meeting in March on the sidelines of the Cricket World Cup
in the West Indies to roll out the off-shore series of one-day matches
between the two nations.
The official said that during a meeting of the International Cricket Council in March, Pakistan would talk to the Indian Board officials
on future commitments.
"We have been told by the Indians that both countries
will play a series of one day matches, a minimum of 15 matches at off-shore
venues in the next four to five years. The Indian Board has already sold television
rights for it. We feel it should move forward," he said.
Pakistan has no international commitments after the
Cricket World Cup and their next assignment under the ICC Future Tours Programme
comes in September in the Twenty20 World Cup after which it hosts South
Africa for two Test and five one-dayers from September 25th.
India is due to host Australia for seven one-dayers after the
Twenty20 competition.
"I think Pakistan and India both need to sit down and
work out the off-shore matches schedule. We are keen to make forays into North
America and places like Abu Dhabi and Sharjah," he said.
Other sources said Pakistan had already entered into negotiations
with the Sri Lankan and the West Indian boards to accept an offer from the Canadian
Cricket Association to revive cricket activities in Toronto where once the Sahara
Cup matches were held annually.
"The boards are negotiating terms with the host country
and the idea is to play a quadrangular tournament sometime in August with Canada
also participating in it," he said.
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