Former captain and now director general of the cricket board, Javed Miandad on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka not to abandon next month's proposed Test tour to Pakistan committed by former Sri Lanka Cricket interim head Arjuna Ranatunga.
Miandad said Pakistan government and the Cricket Board were perfectly capable of providing top class security arrangements for any visiting team.
"The cancellation of tour by the Indian team is a big setback for us but hopefully that series will take place when conditions normalise. But it is also very important for Sri Lanka to go ahead with their tour next month," Miandad said.
He said that security situation in Pakistan was no different from any other country and Pakistan would provide foolproof security to the Lankans.
"No cricketer or team has ever been targeted in Pakistan and just last year we hosted the Asia Cup smoothly with India and Sri Lanka both taking part in it," he noted.
Ranatunga had accepted Pakistan's invitation for a tour from January 20 to play three Tests and five one-dayers. But the tour is now in doubt after the Lankan government sacked Ranatunga and dissolved the interim committee.
Miandad said while the board was working on convincing foreign teams to tour Pakistan it was also paying a lot of attention to its domestic cricket.
{{/usCountry}}Miandad said while the board was working on convincing foreign teams to tour Pakistan it was also paying a lot of attention to its domestic cricket.
{{/usCountry}}"We are taking steps to provide financial guarantees to the players and have decided to increase match fees of players in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy from 10,000 to 20,000", he said.
"We have to ensure that our domestic cricket structure becomes stronger so that the flow of talent or interest in the sport is not reduced due to teams not touring Pakistan."