England A side to tour UAE next year: PCB

Karachi: The ECB has confirmed to the Pakistan Cricket Board that it is willing to send an England Lions team next year to the United Arab Emirates.

"The England Lions squad which is basically a "A" side will be playing five 50-over games and five T20 matches against the Pakistan "A" outfit in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi from March 1 to 29th," an official in the PCB said on Saturday.

He said initially the PCB had tried to convince the ECB to send its Lions outfit to Pakistan but they turned down the offer on security grounds.

"But they have now confirmed they will send their team to the UAE," he added.

The official said that the PCB had also got confirmation from Sri Lanka interim committee for a series between the second string sides of both countries to be held in April next year.

"With Sri Lanka also the PCB is trying to convince them to play in Pakistan and the board has assured them the same level of security as was given to the Zimbabwe side in May. But they are yet to confirm whether they would play in Pakistan or prefer to have the series at neutral venues in the UAE," the official said.

He said that as far Pakistan's tour to Zimbabwe in August this year was concerned the West Indies cricket board had not yet confirmed their participation in a planned triangular one-day series which has upset the Bangladesh cricket board but gives another opportunity to Pakistan or West Indies to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Another source in the PCB said ironically it was Bangladesh which was supposed to be the third team in the planned tri-series in Zimbabwe but they backed out after which the hosts had approached West Indies to send their team.