25 Jul 2008

Pakistan to host Champions Trophy

5:55 am on 25 July 2008

The International Cricket Council says September's Champions Trophy event will remain in Pakistan, after appointing a special task force to ensure security.

The ICC discussed the possibility of moving the tournament because of security fears raised by Australia, England and New Zealand.

The security commission will include the British ICC president David Morgan.

The year's biggest one-day tournament, featuring the top eight one-day nations, begins on the 11th of September, with Australia as the defending champions.

Pakistan is fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in its northwestern tribal regions bordering Afghanistan and has suffered a string of deadly suicide bomb attacks in the last year which have killed more than 1,000 people.

New Zealand cut short a tour of Pakistan in 2002 after a bomb blast outside their hotel in Karachi killed 19 people, including 14 French naval staff.

The Champions Trophy will be the largest international cricket event in Pakistan since it co-hosted the World Cup with India in 1996.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has always insisted the eight-nation, 18-day tournament can proceed safely.

Before going to an ICC meeting in Dubai at the weekend, the New Zealand Players Association representative Heath Mills had doubts that Pakistan could host the tournament.