ABU DHABI // Dilawar Mani, the chief executive of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), hopes international cricket will return to Pakistan as soon as possible but said that the UAE remains ready to host the exiled national team.
The Emirates have become the adopted home for Pakistan's cricketers, who have not played a match on home soil since an attack on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore in March 2009. Most recently, they played South Africa in Test and limited-overs internationals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai last year.
As per the International Cricket Council's Future Tour's Programme, Pakistan are scheduled to play home series against Sri Lanka in October and November, and against England in January and February next year.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) remain hopeful they can persuade Sri Lanka to play at least the Test matches of that series in Pakistan.
However, continuing security concerns mean it is likely a neutral venue will have to be sought for both series, and the ECB are preparing their pitch to stage the matches.
"The PCB have to be commended on the efforts they have made to get cricket back to Pakistan," said Mani, a Pakistani expatriate who is a long-term resident of Abu Dhabi. "It is very obvious that it is in Pakistan's best interests that they hosts these tournaments in their own country.
"Failing that, we are available to Pakistan as a venue, and we try to host them at cost-effective prices. That is always our effort."
The Pakistan national team's continued exile has hit hard at the finances of their cricket board.
At the end of 2009, the PCB claimed losses of up to US$125 million (Dh460m) because of a number of tours being postponed, relocated or cancelled.
Staging home series abroad carries with it certain burdens. As the host board, the PCB takes on all the staging costs, such as the hotel fees for putting up both sets of players and officials, and all match-day costs.
High hotel fees in the UAE can be offset by higher ticket prices than in Sri Lanka, for example, for the popular limited-overs matches.
However, the Test matches involving South Africa last year attracted meagre attendance, even though admission at the Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi was free for all five days of the match.
The game's rulers believe the future of Test cricket could lie in day/night matches, which would allow spectators to attend matches after their workday.
Having staged floodlit first-class cricket matches in Abu Dhabi, the UAE would be well-placed to host such Tests.
However, Mani suggested the forthcoming series would likely come too soon for that.
"I don't think these particular series which are coming up are ready for day/night Tests because the trialling with the pink ball and orange ball is still under way," he said.
"The Marylebone Cricket Club have trialled it here, and the intention is obviously to move to day/night Tests.
"I think there is a future in it, and it will hopefully bring the crowds back into the game. It will also make the game available to television audiences during prime time."
