Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are in talks with New Zealand Cricket to host its team for a five match One-day series prior to the ICC World Cup next year.
A senior PCB official told PTI that a proposal had been sent to the New Zealand board as it would help both teams prepare for the World Cup, to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
“We are keen on this series because we will be playing most of our cricket in the United Arab Emirates before the World Cup,” the source said.
“We play Australia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe in the UAE as our home series between October and January before the World Cup and we realise that conditions in Australia and New Zealand will be totally different when our team goes there,” he said.
The official said that the response from New Zealand board has been positive and hopefully the series would be finalised.
“The PCB is also trying to arrange some international cricket for its team between the period May to September, 2014,” he said.
“During this period we have no international commitments, neither are our players in the IPL so we need to ensure our players don`t go through a five-month gap period before the World Cup.”
The official admitted that they were plans to organise the much-delayed Super League but the security conditions in Pakistan were a big obstacle in achieving this plan.
PTI

KR Desk