Worcestershire's hopes of ace Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal playing for cricket county again this summer appear to be fading due to new international commitments. England's tormentor Ajmal, who spent second half of last season at New Road, has re-signed with the Royals for 2012 Twenty20 competition, but Pakistan are now expected to tour Sri Lanka during that period.
Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes said: "We hear talk all the time of Pakistan touring Sri Lanka and now we are getting that sort of confirmation from agents. We haven't got definite dates, and it still hasn't been officially announced when they are playing and what they are doing. It will be a blow but amount of international cricket played, amount of matches that are suddenly added, causes problems with your plans."
Worcestershire chief executive David Leatherdale said: "We would love Saeed to come, and he would be a massive asset but we have no control. Pakistan seem to want to go to Sri Lanka, ICC are saying they want to go. We've asked for confirmation on whether they are touring and when and no one seems able to give full clarity on it."