KARACHI, (Reuters) – Pakistan’s former captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, yesterday begged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to give more tests to his country, saying a dearth of top-level matches could damage the game.
Inzamam, Pakistan’s most capped player with 104 test and 378 one-day international appearances, said the team could not survive on a diet of one-dayers and T20 matches.
International teams have stopped touring here because of worries over violence and the ICC in April stripped Pakistan of its co-hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup after six members of the Sri Lankan team were wounded in a gun attack on their bus in Lahore in March. The Champions Trophy was also moved to South Africa.
“Pakistan has played just two and half tests in 18 months … and it is reflecting in our performance. Without regular tests, cricket will suffer a lot in our country,” he told Reuters.
Pakistan lost the first in a three-match series against Sri Lanka in Galle on Tuesday after a dramatic collapse on the fourth morning which saw them drop eight wickets for 46 runs.
It was only their third test since Dec. 2007.
Inzamam said the ICC kept saying it wanted to support Pakistan cricket but it needed to match its words with deeds.
“Teams don’t want to tour Pakistan because of security reasons. But other solutions need to be found to give our players more exposure,” Inzamam said.
Despite sending a notice of legal action to the ICC over the shifting of the 14 World Cup matches, the PCB has failed to persuade the world body to change its decision.
Pakistan has now asked the ICC code of conduct commission to appoint a disputes resolution tribunal to look into their appeal.
