DHAKA — Bangladesh will send a security delegation to Pakistan soon to see if its cricket team can visit the country in March and April for a short series, Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan said Saturday. A proposed tour this month was postponed for security reasons and Pakistan subsequently threatened to block their players' participation in the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 tournament, which starts on Jan. 18. Nazmul told a news conference that Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf had made a fresh invitation when the pair met in New Delhi during an India-Pakistan One-Day International. “We haven't made any specific decisions but we discussed our end of the problem with him,” Namzul said. “We talked about a time slot, end of March and the start of April, otherwise we are busy in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. We will send the security team as soon as possible.” No international cricket team has visited Pakistan since militants attacked the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009, killing eight Pakistanis and wounding six Sri Lankan players. Richardson: Only PCB can convince other nations A top official of the International Cricket Council says the game's governing body is not in a position to convince cricketing nations to resume playing in Pakistan. Chief executive David Richardson also said that ICC's role is limited when it comes to bilateral tours, and that it is up to the Pakistan Cricket Board to rebuild the confidence of cricketing countries. Richardson says “security is not something that is taken lightly by anybody and making a decision as to whether it's safe or not involves a serious assessment of the risk ... and it's up to the member countries to decide.” Former umpire Taufel to deliver Cowdrey Lecture Australian Simon Taufel will this year become the first umpire to give the prestigious MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced Friday. The lecture began in 2001 in memory of former Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) president Colin Cowdrey, who played a key role in the ‘Spirit of Cricket' being enshrined in the preamble of the Code of the Laws of Cricket in 2000. The retired Taufel, who was voted the International Cricket Council's (ICC) umpire of the year between 2004 and 2008, will become the third non-player to deliver the lecture. This year's lecture will take place on July 24. — Agencies
