ICC board to decide Champions Trophy host

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Sunday said its executive board will take a final decision on the host of September's Champions Trophy amidst security fears in Pakistan.

The year's biggest one-day tournament, featuring the top eight Test nations, is due to be held in Pakistan from September 11 to 28 but Australia, England and New Zealand have raised fears about security.

The ICC held a meeting at its headquarters in Dubai Sunday with representatives from all eight teams to brief them about security arrangements Pakistan made during the recent six-nation Asia Cup. As well as likely hosts Pakistan the other teams competing in the Champions Trophy are South Africa, India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

"A meeting was held to brief the security arrangements made by Pakistan in the Asia Cup in June-July and now the concerns will be taken at the ICC Board meeting in due course to arrive a definitive decision on the location of this year's Champions Trophy," an ICC press release said.

"Until or unless the board decided otherwise the tournament will be processed in Pakistan," it said, without giving a date for a final decision. Despite the trouble-free hosting of the Asia Cup, a suicide bomb blast in the capital Islamabad earlier this month killed 19 people and a series of small bombings rocked the port city of Karachi.

DUBAI, AFP