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West Indies 2 for 214 (Gayle 102, Dowlin 55) trail Australia 7 for 520 dec (Katich 99, Watson 89, Haddin 88, Hussey 82, North 68) by 306 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outNo, Chris, we should be bowing at you: Gayle kneels down to mark his awesome century•Getty Images

Chris Gayle whipped up the fifth fastest century by balls faced in Test history as West Indies refused to be blown over on a dramatic and heated day in Perth. Gayle unleashed the controlled fury of a captain who had watched his bowlers struggle for penetration with a 70-ball hundred that catapulted his side to 2 for 214, a promising collection which still leaves them 306 behind.Australia felt chirpy after declaring at 7 for 520 but were soon silenced by Gayle’s hot blade as he clumped 102 within 25 overs. The WACA has hosted some brutal innings and this one probably included the biggest six at the ground, with one of his straight sixes off Nathan Hauritz landing on the roof of the towering Lillee-Marsh Stand.That rocket, which was powered by his charge down the pitch and a free-flowing swing, took him to 91 and it was appropriate that his century came with another six, this one sailing over the sightscreen. It was his fourth clearance off Hauritz and sixth of the innings, prompting him to drop to his knees for a praiseworthy celebration. Everyone watching deserved to be bowing down at him.After a hard-working, unbeaten 165 in Adelaide, which re-floated his side after their three-day defeat in Brisbane, Gayle followed up in his traditional style. This was a batsman preening and flexing, exterminating the frustration of time in the field.Sulieman Benn, the giant spinner with a seriously grumpy alter ego, had signalled that West Indies would not slip away meekly when he started a lengthy confrontation with Brad Haddin that ended with Mitchell Johnson pushing the bowler away. Gayle then showed the right sort of aggression for a modern cricket field, an innings containing defence and leaving with Twenty20-style explosions thrown in.Gayle is without two of his best batsmen – Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Adrian Barath are out injured – on a surface with a reputation for supporting fast bowlers. He didn’t care. His team might look fragile but he was not going to be pushed around. Four boundaries were taken in Johnson’s opening two overs to set Gayle’s tempo and he would calm down only momentarily.The debutant Clint McKay was initiated with a four in front of point first ball and returned after tea to be swatted down the ground and lifted for a six to long-on. Gayle barely followed through and with his score on 79 from 46 balls there was a chance he could tackle Viv Richards’ record of 56 deliveries. It didn’t happen but, like Adam Gilchrist’s 57-ball effort in Perth during the 2006-07 Ashes, it didn’t matter.Strokes that would usually wedge in the mind were replaced at the speed of a wedding-ceremony slideshow. When Gayle flicked Doug Bollinger over square leg to bring up his half-century from his 34th ball it seemed like the shot of the series. An effortless swing cleared the fence on one of the world’s biggest grounds and the batsman’s heart-rate would not have fluttered. More grunt followed the grace.

Smart Stats

• Australia’s total of 520 is the second-highest score that did not feature a single century. Only India’s score of 524 for 9 declared against New Zealand is ahead on the list and featured six fifties against Australia’s five.

• Marcus North and Brad Haddin scored the 14th and 15th half-centuries for Australia in this series, but the hosts are yet to register a hundred.

• Chris Gayle’s century was the fourth for the visitors in the same time.

• If the Australian batsmen fail to register a century in the second innings, this would become only the ninth time that Australia have gone through a series of at least three matches without a century.

• The 15 half-centuries Australia have scored is already the highest scored by any team in a Test series where it did not score any centuries.

The Australians were in shock and awe, especially Hauritz, who will do well not to have nightmares of Gayle’s right leg stepping down at him. Ricky Ponting kept Hauritz on hoping for a mis-hit, and there was an edge on 81 that was spilt by Michael Clarke at first slip. If Gayle missed a century it would have been a bigger crime than the physical confrontation of Benn and Johnson.He didn’t and after such carnage his dismissal was as weak as the winds in the eye of a storm, a limp waft at a short ball floating to Shane Watson at point. Bollinger was the bowler but the noise that followed was for Gayle’s innings of 72 deliveries, which also had nine forgotten fours. As he exited to the first ball of the 24th over he had all but 34 off his side’s 136.Travis Dowlin was the almost silent partner but his 55 was hugely valuable until he scooped a catch to gully off Johnson. By stumps the tourists had Ramnaresh Sarwan on 42 and Narsingh Deonarine on 10, while Johnson, McKay and Hauritz were left to tend their bruises.It was a day for runs, none of which went to Ponting. He did not bat due to his injured left elbow, but closed the innings midway through the second session after Haddin had built on the work of Watson, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey and Marcus North. On another day Haddin’s 88 from 91 balls would have been the most memorable and North’s confident 68 would have been discussed with appreciative nods. Sorry, but Gayle’s special circumstances relegated them to small mentions.Australia resumed the second day at 3 for 339 and quickly lost Hussey for 82, with Haddin soon doing his best to impersonate Gilchrist. Gayle did a better job, but Haddin’s collection was important in inflating Australia’s total, which is still intimidating despite West Indies’ forceful reply.Haddin threatened to become the first Australian of the series to score a hundred, but instead became the 15th local to reach a half-century during a purposeful innings that gained intensity with his elongated debate with Benn. The complicated exchange inadvertently brought in Johnson when the bowler pointed at Haddin and accidently brushed his partner’s shoulder.It had all begun when Haddin took offence at Benn and Johnson running into each other when the bowler was fielding in his follow-through. The ultimately harmless episode was an unnecessary and ugly period that showed both teams have some fight left after three weeks of play. It didn’t help Benn though, as he returned 1 for 87 off 28 overs, but added to the excitement of a breathless day.

Chris Nash, the Sussex batsman, has been forced to return home from the England performance squad in South Africa after fracturing his thumb during training.Nash will undergo surgery next week and his rehabilitation will be monitored by the ECB medical team. No replacement will named in his place.The squad, made up of players in three categories depending on how soon they are expected to challenge for international honours, arrived in South Africa last week and will be based in Pretoria until December 17.The four category A players involved – those closest to an England call-up – are Michael Carberry, Stephen Moore, Mark Davies and Amjad Khan although the selectors have already moved outside the performance programme when they summoned James Tredwell to cover for Graeme Swann in the one-day squad.Nash is a category B player which means the selectors view him as being between one and three years away international cricket. He earned his spot after scoring 1298 runs at 59.00 in the County Championship.

Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, has said Pakistan have a distinct advantage on the tour of Australia, for the hosts lack a wristspinner in their ranks

Cricinfo staff18-Dec-2009Legspinner Danish Kaneria has said Pakistan have a distinct advantage against Australia during the upcoming Tests because the hosts do not have a wristspinner in their squad. Kaneria was successful during the Test series in New Zealand, taking 13 wickets in two matches, including a seven-wicket haul, at 20.69. He will be backed up by offspinner Saeed Ajmal, who was impressive in the first Test in Dunedin and has been a regular fixture in the ODI team.”I think there is a distinct advantage,” Kaneria told AAP. “There is a big gap in the Australian leg-spin department. They have finger spinners like [Jason] Krejza and now Nathan Hauritz, the main problem for Australia in my opinion is they are lacking a wristspinner.”Kaneria said a wristspinner was an important part of any attack in Tests and could be expected to be effective on any kind of track. “Wickets around the world are being prepared so on the third day, the fourth, the fifth day, the spinners can do their part,” he said. “A wrist spinner will get the bounce from any sort of wicket, no matter if it’s green or it’s a flat track. A wrist spinner will get the turn on any track.”New South Wales allrounder Steven Smith, who bowls leg spin, was drafted in as cover for Nathan Hauritz for the third Test against West Indies, but since the departure of Shane Warne and Stuart Macgill, and the experiment with Beau Casson, Cameron White and Bryce McGain, Australia have lacked a frontline wristspinner.Pakistan take on Tasmania in Hobart in their first warm-up game of the tour, and the hosts will welcome the services of fast bowler Brett Geeves, who has been released from the Australia squad for the ongoing Perth Test. Geeves had earlier said he’d be rested for the tour game but injury concerns in the Australian line-up, the absence of Peter Siddle topping the list, had prompted a change in thinking.”It’s good for me ahead of the next Test,” Geeves said. “I’m 12th man at the moment which means I’m currently next in line and if I’m able to take some wickets who knows, anything is possible. But I certainly don’t have my hopes up and I just want to represent Tasmania as best I can.”Geeves said South Australia’s Peter George and Dan Christian, and NSW’s Burt Cockley, were also competing with him for a Test place. “But I guess the positive for me is that I’m playing against Pakistan in a tour game and the Aussies play them in a week’s time,” he said.Tasmania squad: George Bailey (capt), Ed Cowan, Brendan Drew, Alex Doolan, Brett Geeves, Wade Irvine, Jason Krejza, Tim Macdonald, Adam Maher, Dan Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), John Rogers, Jonathan Wells.Pakistan squad: Mohammad Yousuf (capt), Mohammad Aamer, Saeed Ajmal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Umar Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Fawad Alam, Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul, Shoaib Malik, Khurram Manzoor, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Rauf, Mohammad Sami.

Many Nottingham Forest fans have been left slamming the display of James Garner in their 1-1 draw at home to Sheffield United on Tuesday night.

In a cagey affair which saw seven yellow cards in total given out, including to Forest manager Steve Cooper, Lewis Grabban managed to salvage the draw for the home team after Morgan Gibbs-White, on loan from Wolves, gave the Blades the lead with just over 10 minutes to go.

Garner, who will be eager to impress on loan from Manchester United, did not have the best of games, and NFFC supporters were particularly critical of his deliveries from crosses and set pieces.

The central midfield player was inaccurate with nine of his crosses – by far the most out of any player on the pitch – and also failed with three of his long ball attempts (SofaScore).

Garner also lost out on four of his duels, and failed to record a single shot on goal, dribble or clearance, while he lost possession of the ball on no fewer than 20 separate occasions in the match, the second most out of any of his teammates (SofaScore).

Nottingham Forest fans on Garner display

These Forest fans slammed his performance on Twitter, with a couple even going as far as to claim that he was ‘woeful’:

“James Garner got the sponsors MOTM…… The ref had a better game!!”

Credit: @boonycarlsberg

“Spence class, Garner (was he actually playing?) a shadow of his former self. As for the corners again, they ain’t very good. Plenty of other positives, but we’ve got to do better at home no doubt about it.”

Credit: @lincsboydave

“Quite enjoyed that game. Showed how we don’t have a lot of strength in depth. Djed Spence immense again. Garner woeful, thankfully Colback back in the centre for the weekend.”

Credit: @BarnacleRed

“Garner crossing is v v poor”

Credit: @notnek73

“Garner’s delivery is absolutely woeful”

Credit: @ianfellrangers

“Garner can definitely go back in Jan for me. Can’t believe he’s the same player.”

Credit: @redmannffc83

In other news, find out what club news Forest fans have unleashed at here!

Everton manager Rafa Benitez needs to turn things around quickly at Goodison Park to avoid being sacked, according to Daily Star journalist Paul Brown.

What’s the story?

The Toffees got off to a sensational start under the 61-year-old’s tutelage, losing just one of their opening seven Premier League games to move into a European qualification spot.

However, significant injuries to key players sparked a dramatic drop-off in results and performances in recent weeks, with Benitez’s charges picking up just a single point from a possible 12 over the last month.

And Brown believes the Spanish tactician will have until the festive period to mastermind an upturn in fortunes before he gets relieved of his duties by the Everton hierarchy.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Unless Benitez turns it around quickly in the next couple of games, by Christmas, if they are at the wrong end of the table fighting and struggling, I don’t think the owner can allow it to go on for very long because it’s too big a season financially for them to be struggling.”

Everton fans may be worried

Although Benitez wasn’t a universally popular appointment amongst the Everton fanbase due to his previous connections with fierce rivals Liverpool, a large section of the club’s supporters may be worried about his potential departure if Farhad Moshiri takes the ruthless decision to axe yet another head coach.

Throughout his career, the experienced boss has showcased his ability to claim the sports most coveted prizes, claiming one Champions League crown, two La Liga titles, one FA Cup, one Italian Cup, one UEFA Cup, one Europa League, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

Benitez’s success at Valencia, Liverpool and Napoli, in particular, have cultivated an enviable reputation and given time, he could achieve similar things at Goodison Park.

His fast start illustrated what could be to come throughout his reign, and with the lack of stability that Everton have experienced in the dugout in recent years, Benitez is likely to have a lot of supporters hoping he turns things around soon. Moshiri deciding to sack him after such a long managerial saga only a few months ago would surely only cause more worry at Goodison.

And, in other news…Brands could find Rafa’s next Pablo Aimar at Everton in “very clever” £22.5m-rated ace

As per Turkish source Fanatik (via Sport Witness), there is a belief that West Ham could sell another player in Andriy Yarmolenko for a cheap fee – coming after their infamous loss on Felipe Anderson in the summer.

The Lowdown: West Ham sell Anderson for just £4m…

Back in July, West Ham and GSB made an incredible loss on the sale of their former winger to Lazio.

Signed by ex-boss Manuel Pellegrini for £36 million in 2018, the Brazilian’s down turn in form at the latter stage of his West Ham career saw him loaned out to FC Porto where he endured an equally torrid time – making just a handful of appearances for the Primeira Liga giants (WhoScored).

As such, manager David Moyes and the club saw fit to rid themselves of Anderson but winded up doing so for a controversially cheap fee.

Indeed, the reliably reported £4m they recuperated his services meant West Ham made a loss of around £30m (Evening Standard).

Despite a 50% sell-on clause inserted into the deal, it’s safe to say this business from GSB will win no awards, and now there is belief in Turkey that the Irons could sell another player on the cheap.

The Latest: Yarmolenko price ‘will not be high’…

As per Fanatik, as also shared by Sport Witness, there is belief from the continent and Turkish Super Lig giants Trabzonspor that Yarmolenko’s price ‘will not be high’ as they add him to a list of January targets.

To get the true price, it is claimed that they will launch ‘cost investigations’ into the 32-year-old who has even already been offered to them by his ‘managers’ – presumably meaning representatives.

However, they are not the only club interest, with the report also claiming that West Ham’s man has ‘serious market’ in Europe.

The Verdict: Another loss incoming?

One of the main reasons Trabzonspor believe West Ham will accept a cheap fee for Yarmolenko is down to his contract situation, which is currently set to expire in 2022.

As things stand, he is free to negotiate a pre-contract in January ahead of a possible free agent departure next summer, meaning West Ham could have to sell for a lower fee mid-season rather than lose him for nothing six months later.

It’s also unlikely that Yarmolenko would agree a short-term extension given he reportedly made up his mind on leaving in the last window (calciomercatoweb), so it appears West Ham may be resigned to making another loss.

One silver lining for the Irons may be finally getting the Ukraine international’s sky high £115,000-per-week wages off the books and saving money long term.

As Moyes looks to maintain West Ham’s current run and guide them further into an exciting era, selling Yarmolenko may be a question of when rather than if, even despite club favourite Declan Rice once calling him ‘really special’.

In other news: West Ham ready offer to sign 33-cap World Cup ace as Newman sets sights on brand new target, find out more here.

Match facts

Sunday June 21
Start time 10.30 local (0930 GMT)Aimee Watkins will be keen to achieve what her predecessor Haidee Tiffen couldn’t – lead New Zealand to a world title•Getty Images

Big Picture

So they meet again. The two finalists from the 50-over World Cup in Australia – which England won by four wickets – will face each other in the World Twenty20 final at Lord’s on Sunday. Both England and New Zealand are unbeaten in the tournament and put in such strong performances in the semi-finals that it is hard to predict a favourite. Though home advantage isn’t a big factor in Twenty20, England can claim to have a slight edge over New Zealand.England’s strength is their batting, led by world No. 1 Claire Taylor – whose unbeaten 76 off 53 balls took her side into the final – and captain Charlotte Edwards. New Zealand, on the other hand, have a very tight bowling unit, with 25-year-old Sian Ruck emerging as a great future talent. New Zealand’s batting, however, hinges somewhat on the hard-hitting Suzie Bates and captain Aimee Watkins. If they fail, the team looks very fragile.Both teams showed in the semi-finals that Twenty20, a game of big hits and fast action, is suited to women and can be a format used to make the game more popular. They repeatedly cleared the boundary and dived and threw balls in with accuracy. A close final on Sunday could set up an interesting rivalry for the future and, more importantly, a precedent for women’s curtain-raiser matches in bilateral series.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand WWWWL
England WWWWW

Watch out for…

Claire Taylor: She’s in the form of her life and was named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. Her unbeaten half-century in the semi-final helped England overhaul Australia’s 162 with ease. Expect a big contribution from her.Suzie Bates: New Zealand’s reply to Taylor is the 21-year-old opener who can tear apart a bowling attack. However, she looked out of touch in the semi-final against India, struggling to find the gaps, and scored a 24-ball 15. New Zealand will need her to click if they are to hope to get past England this time around.Holly Colvin: England’s left-arm spinner is the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with nine from four games at an economy of 5.62.Sian Ruck: New Zealand’s left-arm seamer swings the ball into the right-handers and repeatedly bowled yorker-length deliveries in the semi-final. One of the wickets of the tournament was her dismissal of Harmanpreet Kaur in that match. The ball landed back of a length on middle and moved to take the leg stump. Ruck will be keen to keep Taylor and Co. in check.

Road to the final

England
v India: won by ten wickets. England needed just 15.4 overs to chase down India’s paltry total.
v Sri Lanka: won by 71 runs Eshani Kaushalya took a career-best haul but the Sri Lankan batsmen couldn’t stand up to Isa Guha and Colvin.
v Pakistan: won by 63 runs A surprisingly low total for England but Pakistan were bowled out in 16.5 overs
v Australia: won by eight wickets Thanks to an unbeaten 122-run stand, England booked their place on the big ticket with eight wickets and three balls to spare
New Zealand
v Australia: won by nine wickets A keen contest was turned into a one-sided affair as New Zealand yet again beat their Tasman neighbours in an opening game of the World Cup.
v West Indies: won by 52 runs A 94-run opening stand between Bates and Doolan set up the big win.
v South Africa: won by six wickets Cri-Zelda Brits gave the New Zealand bowlers a scare with an unbeaten half-century but with no support from the rest of the batting order, the target New Zealand had to chase remained modest.
v India: won by 52 runs India were completely outplayed by an all-round New Zealand.

Team news

England are unlikely to change the side that chased down Australia’s 162 with eight wickets to spare unless injuries force them to.England: (probable) 1 Sarah Taylor (wk), 2 Claire Taylor, 3 Charlotte Edwards (wk), 4 Beth Morgan, 5 Lydia Greenway, 6 Jenny Gunn, 7 Caroline Atkins, 8 Nicki Shaw, 9 Katherine Brunt, 10 Holly Colvin, 11 Laura Marsh.Ditto for New Zealand who will hope openers Bates and Lucy Doolan can give them a rollicking start that Watkins can consolidate on.New Zealand: (probable) 1 Lucy Doolan, 2 Suzie Bates, 3 Aimee Watkins (capt), 4 Amy Satterthwaite, 5 Nicola Browne, 6 Sara McGlashan, 7 Sophie Devine, 8 Rachel Priest (wk), 9 Kate Pulford, 10 Sian Ruck, 11 Sarah Tsukigawa.

Stats and Trivia

• Sarah Taylor has the highest tournament average with 160.00 from three innings, with two half-centuries.
• Lucy Doolan has scored the most number of sixes – three – in an innings in the tournament.
• Isa Guha has the best economy rate – 2.83 from two games.

Quotes

“It’s the biggest game of our lives tomorrow in front of our home crowd. We’re desperate to win. We’re dealing with the pressure very well and the girls are relaxed.””We’ve got that experience under our belt and everyone’s a lot more relaxed this time round.”

West Bromwich Albion could be set for a January transfer battle in order to retain the services of Darnell Furlong.

What’s been said?

That’s according to Express & Star journalist Luke Hatfield, who suggested in a recent interview with GIVEMESPORT that a number of Premier League clubs could be monitoring the progress of the West Brom right-back ahead of a potential swoop in the January transfer window.

Speaking about the potential interest in the 26-year-old, Hatfield said: “Premier League clubs, will they be considering him? Maybe they’ll be looking at him. There are defensive issues to think about.

“If you’re playing him in a four, defensively he maybe lets a little bit too much go. But if you’re thinking of an attacking full-back or a wing-back, then he suits that role down to the ground.”

Fans would be fuming

Furlong has become an important player for West Brom since his £1.53m move from Queens Park Rangers in 2019, and should the Baggies lose the services of the defender in January, it would undoubtedly enrage fans of the club.

Indeed, over his 15 Championship appearances so far this season, the £4.5m-rated defender has helped his side to keep six clean sheets, registered two assists and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as taking 1.5 shots and making 1.5 key passes per game.

The player who Glenn Murray dubbed an “exceptional” talent has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making 1.1 interceptions, 1.4 tackles and 1.7 clearances and winning 7.3 duels per match.

These returns have seen the £15k-per-week right-back average a SofaScore match rating of 7.11, ranking him as Valerien Ismael’s joint third-best performer in the Championship.

As such, considering his overall level of performance this season, and that the 26-year-old is the Frenchman’s only senior option on the right-hand side of defence, selling Furlong this winter would be a big mistake on West Brom’s part – and could well see the Baggies’ push for promotion fall short.

In other news: West Brom’s £21k-p/w ace who lost 66% duels had a “howler” against Fulham

West Ham United return to Europa League action as they welcome Genk to the London Stadium this evening.

David Moyes and his side will be looking to keep up their 100% win record in Group H and they will be buoyed with confidence from the weekend’s narrow but convincing 1-0 victory over Everton.

The Scotsman will surely be tempted to rotate his starting XI, as he often has done in this competition, especially with the small matter of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

One player who is surely in line to start is Craig Dawson, who has a pretty remarkable record when playing for the club, notching a 63.5% win rate. He played from the off in the 2-0 win over Rapid Wien but not against Dinamo Zagreb.

His involvement could hand a rest to either Angelo Ogbonna or Kurt Zouma ahead of this weekend’s London derby, and as evident above, he can definitely be relied upon.

In fact, the Hammers’ only two losses this season have come when he has not played any involvement whatsoever.

The 6 foot 2 colossus has been described as a “leader” by former Hammer defender Anton Ferdinand, so the presence of the Italian beast will not be completely missed and whoever partners him, likely to be Issa Diop, will be in safe hands too.

Furthermore, Genk’s major weakness is from set-pieces, where they have already leaked a whopping ten goals, so the presence of Dawson could terrify them in east London tonight.

“In Belgium, they dominated the games that they lost. But they missed too many chances and conceded too many easy goals. Already ten from set pieces, especially against West Ham that can become a big problem,” explained journalist Marnik Geukens to football.london.

Dawson is a massive threat from set-pieces, so it would be wise for Moyes to start him tonight.

“I enjoyed working with Dawson and he’s the best attacker of set pieces that I’ve ever come across in my managerial career,” once claimed former Irons boss Alan Pardew.

The £42.5k-per-week star must be unleashed at the London Stadium this evening.

AND in other news, Get rid: Moyes must now axe shocking West Ham disaster, he has cost GSB £3.9m per goal…

Pakistan have lodged a protest with the ICC over the shifting of the 2011 World Cup matches from the country due to security reasons

Cricinfo staff22-Apr-2009The Pakistan board has lodged a formal protest with the ICC over the shifting of World Cup matches from the country due to security reasons.”We have registered our protest during the ICC meeting and our stance was that all four co-hosts of the World Cup were not treated equally by the ICC and they should have waited for six months before taking this decision,” Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed told AFP.The ICC executive board took the decision following a meeting on Friday in Dubai, citing the “uncertain security situation” in Pakistan in the aftermath of the Lahore terror attacks on March 3, when six policemen and two civilians were killed as gunmen fired at the Sri Lankan team bus.The ICC had also said that Pakistan was unlikely to resume hosting any international cricket at all until 2011. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the other co-hosts for the World Cup, will now be hosting the 14 matches, including one semi-final, originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan.Saeed questioned the ICC’s rationale of hosting games in the other three Asian countries. “India shifted their cricket league [the IPL] to South Africa over security fears,” he said. “We could not tour Bangladesh because there were security fears in March.”The situation in Sri Lanka was not good either, so from the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt (to) our director general Javed Miandad, everyone has said that ICC must reconsider the decision.”David Morgan, the ICC president, said the meeting with the PCB officials assumed great importance and helped serve a dual purpose. “It allowed myself and Haroon [Lorgat] the chance to outline the ICC’s objectives and the challenges facing the world governing body and, by extension, our members, something we have done in our previous presentations,” said Morgan.”But on top of that it also gave us the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the ICC and its members to the cause of Pakistan cricket at a time when it is facing some immense difficulties that are beyond its control.”The country has done so many good things for international cricket, producing some of the greatest players and teams the world has ever seen, and we must do all we can to ensure it can continue to do that in the years ahead.”Haroon Lorgat, the ICC’s chief executive, said the meeting was useful and informative. “We realise that Pakistan is faced with unique challenges and we will do everything possible to ensure it continues to play international cricket,” he said.