KARACHI -


The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to undertake a short tour of the West Indies in July to play a five-match ODI series and two Twenty20 matches after the West Indies Cricket Board revised a confirmed tour schedule that included Test matches also.
Official sources in the PCB said that it had been decided to accept the offer by the WICB to play only the limited-over series on the tour. "The WICB has said they will schedule the Test matches at a later date," a source said.
Originally Pakistan were supposed to play a full series in the West Indies in July-August but the WICB has now decided to hold a tri-series involving India and Sri Lanka and also launch the Caribbean Premier League in August, forcing Pakistan to amend its tour.
Interestingly, the cricket committee of the International Cricket Council had expressed concerns over the fact that some boards were altering schedules to drop Test matches to accommodate more ODIs and T20 matches. The official source also said that Pakistan would also be touring Zimbabwe for a one-day series in August.
"The team will return home from the Champions Trophy and then leave for the West Indies on July 7 and will then go straight to Zimbabwe to play three ODIs and two T20 matches in August. Later in the year Pakistan are also scheduled to play a full Test series' against South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Although these series are supposed to be 'home' ones for Pakistan, the refusal of teams to tour the nation because of security reasons, has led the PCB to organise the matches at neutral venues. The South African board has already said its players will not tour Pakistan because of the security situation and they can only play at a neutral venue.