 There seems to be absolutely no let up in the pressure that the PCB seems to be
mounting on the ICC. The latest salvo came in the form of a Pakistan Court issuing
a stay order, until June 2, 2009, on the relocation of the World Cup 2011
secretariat from Lahore to Mumbai. Post the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team,
the ICC had swung into action and had immediately decided that Pakistan was too
unsafe a destination for the World Cup matches to be held. Subsequently, the secretariat
too was shifted out of Lahore to Mumbai. The PCB had then reacted by issuing a
legal notice to the ICC claiming that its actions were unfair and that Pakistan
should have been given a chance to present its case. Later, its Chairman Ijaz
Butt on the advice of former ICC President, Ehsan Mani was seen as travelling
to Sri Lanka; all this in a bid to use diplomacy, in the hope to salvage the situation
for his country.
The latest action, the order issued by a senior judge of the Lahore High Court
gains significance as the court claims that it has jurisdiction over the matter.
According to the PCB, the secretariat was in Lahore and hence the Lahore
High Court does have jurisdiction over the entire issue of relocation. The court
order states that the tournament Director is restrained from shifting the office
from Lahore to Mumbai or for that matter to any other city. Any move to do so,
will result in a contempt of court application. The PCB also made it clear that
the shifting cannot happen until an ICC dispute committee or the Swiss
based Court of Arbitration of Sports [CAS] resolves the primary issue, i.e shifting
of the World Cup matches outside Pakistan. The ICC on its behalf has said that
it doesn't believe that there's any substance in the PCB's claims and further
added that it was determined to vigorously defend its case.
Meanwhile, more number of players were reported to have applied to the unauthorized
ICL, seeking to relinquish their contracts. The latest name to do the rounds
was that of Bangladeshi former captain, Habibul Bashar who's shown interest
to come back to the national fold. Amongst the Indian cricketers, it was earlier
reported that Hemang Badani and Rohan Gavaskar have already made up their minds
and would want to terminate their contracts with the ICL.
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