LAHORE: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has employed a security company for a three-year period in their bid to resume the international cricket in Pakistan.
Confirming the news, newly-appointed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi revealed that formation of the international security company is the first step towards the resumption of cricket in the country.
He further said that the security company is expected to visit the nation either during the last week of August or the first week of September.
“It’s a step by the ICC for the revival of international cricket in Pakistan. The company is based in three countries — the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates — and has a good repute,” the Dawn quoted Najam, as saying.
“A representative of the Federation of International Cricketers (FICA) will accompany the security company to personally monitor the security situation in Lahore,” he added.
The 69-year-old further elaborated that it would be a four-day visit, in which, the security team would try to find out whether Pakistan would manage to provide all the necessary security arrangements to the teams or not.
“It will be a four-day visit where the security company will work with the government of Punjab to get assurances that all the recommendations submitted by security experts of the different countries who visited Lahore to watch the final of the second Pakistan Super League (PSL) season have been incorporated by the government in its SOPs, or not,” he said.
The security team would also visit Pakistan each year, with the ICC paying them US$400,000on every visit, said Sethi.
Meanwhile, the PCB chairman confirmed that the recommendations proposed by foreign security experts when they visited Lahore for the PSL final had been incorporated in the SOPs of the Punjab government.
A Sri Lankan delegation also travelled to Lahore during the PSL final and Sethi believes that the former’s positive report about the security arrangements had propelled Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to agree upon a short trip to Lahore during their upcoming series against Pakistan.
Sri Lanka, subject to security clearance, are expected to play a maximum of two T20Is in Lahore in September.