PCB to send curators to UAE before England series

Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board will send its own curators to the UAE to supervise the preparation of pitches for the Test and one-day series against England next month.

Pakistan`s former captain and coach, Intikhab Alam has also been told to travel to Dubai and Abu Dhabi and inspect the preparation of pitches for the coming series in which three tests, four ODIs and two T20 matches are scheduled to be played from January 17 onwards. "It is a home series for us which we are playing in the UAE. So it is our responsibility to see the preparation of pitches for the series," a board official said. He said although there were qualified curators at the two venues but the PCB also wanted its own men to be involved in the process of preparing pitches. The Pakistan team management had complained about the condition of the pitches in their recent series against Sri Lanka terming them as slow and sluggish. The England Cricket Board, which has already announced its Test squad, will be sending its players to the UAE in advance to get acclimatised to the conditions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and they have also scheduled two three-day warm up matches before the Test series starts. The series is being viewed with interest by the PCB since England is the number one Test team and if Pakistan does well against them, it could see a significant improvement in its rankings. The selection committee has also decided to delay the announcement of the Pakistan Test squad until the conclusion of the tour to Bangladesh. PTI