South Africa may replace Sri Lanka as the venue of the Champions Trophy one-day tournament later this year, the International Cricket Council said on Wednesday. A teleconference between members of the ICCs chief executives committee, comprising representatives of the 10 Test nations, concluded that South Africa would provide better weather conditions than Sri Lanka in September-October.
A final decision on the twice-postponed tournament, the second biggest after the World Cup, will be taken by the ICCs Executive Board in Dubai on Monday. The committee recommended the tournament be switched to South Africa because "it was felt that it would be too great a risk to stage the tournament in Colombo at a time of year when there was a distinct possibility of rain," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.
"This was especially relevant given the length of this years Champions Trophy has been reduced to 12 days, part of our desire to make it a short, sharp event, as on that basis there would be no room for reserve days. "South Africa was a successful and excellent host of the ICC World Twenty20 at much the same time of year two years ago and the weather pattern in the area around Johannesburg in September and October is stable and ideal for cricket.
"The meeting therefore agreed it would be prudent to look to hold the tournament in South Africa, subject to agreement over financial arrangements." The eight-nation tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan last year, but was put off by a year and then taken away from the strife-torn South Asian nation due to security concerns.
The teleconference came just over a week after a deadly attack on the Sri Lanka team in the Pakistani city of Lahore that killed eight people and injured seven Sri Lanka players and their assistant coach. Sri Lanka, the original reserve venue, was also thrown in doubt due to the seasonal wet weather in the months of September and October when the tournament is due to be held. The previous Champions Trophy was held in India in 2006 and won by Australia.
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