Chief executive of ICC to visit Pakistan next week

The Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Manu Sawhney, will visit Pakistan next week to start preliminary discussions with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) about the hosting of ICC events in the period from 2023 to 2031.

Sawhney, who replaced the former South African wicket-keeper David Richardson as the CEO in April 2019, will arrive in Islamabad on Jan 22 and will then head off to the PCB headquarters in Lahore on Jan 23.

He is expected to meet high-ranking government officials while in the federal capital and to discuss matters of mutual interests with the PCB’s top hierarchy in Lahore.

This will be the third visit by a top ICC official in the last four months after ICC Deputy-Chairman Imran Khawaja and ICC General Manager Cricket, Geoff Allardice, visited Lahore and Rawalpindi during the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Twenty20 International series and first Test, respectively.

In October last year, the ICC Board had decided that the eight-year events cycle commencing in 2023 will comprise eight men’s events, eight women’s competitions, four under-19 tournaments each for males and females, respectively.

The PCB has started aiming for an ICC event following the successful staging of 12 domestic competitions since May 1 last year, apart from the international visits of Sri Lanka's cricket team (twice) as well as Bangladesh women’s and under-16 sides. 

PCB's beliefs in their capability were strengthened after successfully hosting eight HBL Pakistan Super League 2019 matches in Karachi, which proved be the cornerstone for the entire 34 matches of the 2020 edition to be played across four Pakistan venues — Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Multan — from Feb 20 to March 22.

The PCB’s confidence is also around massive improvement in the security arrangements over the past few years that has convinced the ICC to send five different set of match officials since 2017 as well as the backing of the international players associations who have given thumbs-up to their players to feature in the HBL PSL 2019 and 2020.