Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Dr Naseem Ashraf flew to Dubai on Sunday evening to attend the five-day chief executives’ committee meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC), which, among other things, will also review the security arrangements for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

At the meeting, Ashraf will allay the security concerns of various cricket boards, mainly Australia, England and New Zealand who have even hired a private security consultant, Reg Dickson, to assess the situation in Pakistan.

Earlier, Ashraf made a brief visit to the National Stadium, where Pakistan and Sri Lanka were warming up for their Sunday’s Asia Cup encounter, and met with a section of media and a few players.

He also instructed his personal staff that “the independent security expert, who has arrived from Australia, should be assisted in every manner.”

The tall, bald Dickson spent his day at the National Stadium going through the arrangements in place for the Asia Cup. “I have met some other independent security officers here and spent some time with them. The PCB is doing a lot and some more international experience would mean moving in the right direction,” said Dickson, who, on this visit, will be assessing arrangements only in Karachi.

In this port city, it is quite common for locals to keep warning visitors about how “late night movements in the city can be dangerous at times.” In the last three years, thanks to sporadic violence in the city, quite a few sporting events have been canceled.

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