Pakistan open to playing seven T20s against Australia in UAE

Karachi, May 25 (ANI): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not ruled out the possibility of accepting a proposal by its Emirates counterpart to play a series of seven Twenty20 Internationals against Australia in the UAE later this year.

"The proposal to have a series of T20 matches is viable and we are looking at it but first of all we need to have clearance from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to organise such a large number of T20 internationals," the Daily Times quoted a PCB spokesman, as saying.

Pakistan are scheduled to play a series of five ODIs and three T20 matches against Australia from August and the PCB is still searching for a neutral venue to organise the matches.

The Emirates Cricket Board last week offered a proposal that they are willing to host the Pakistan-Australia series if the PCB decides to do away with the ODIs and instead play seven T20 matches against Australia.

According to the Emirates board, the proposal is viable since the matches can start late and would be organised after Eid, which should fall around August 22.

The PCB had initially ruled out the UAE as a neutral venue for the series because of the weather conditions and month of Ramazan during which the series was scheduled to start.

"It is a proposal that can be explored but at the same time we are studying other alternate venues for the series including Zimbabwe and Malaysia. We are looking at all the alternate venues and their cost effectiveness in organising the series plus the weather conditions and facilities " he said, adding that a decision on where the series would be held will be decided within a week's time.

"This is a high profile series and we want to earn something from it. It is a difficult situation for us because of teams refusing to play in Pakistan," the spokesman added.

Pakistan since 2009 have played all their home series at neutral venues mostly at Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah as foreign teams have refused to visit the country because of security concerns. (ANI)