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 SOUTH AFRICA The South African Cricketers' Association has joined the chorus of unease at the decision not to move the Champions Trophy away from Pakistan. On Thursday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed the tournament will take place in the Asian nation in September despite fears over security. Player groups in New Zealand, Australia and England have already raised doubts over the decision, and now the SACA is also questioning the verdict. "We still have serious concerns about the event going ahead in Pakistan," Tony Irish, the organisation's chief executive officer, told PA Sport. "We will, however, as we always do, work with our board [Cricket South Africa] here on any decisions relating to the matter going forward and decide whether our team is going to go or not." Pakistan's suitability to stage the tournament - the second biggest on the cricket calendar - was called into question after a spate of bombings in the country, the most recent coming in June when 15 people were killed in the capital, Islamabad. Irish refused to identify the players with the biggest concerns, suggesting that most of the group had reservations. "It's a vast majority of our players that have raised the issue," said Irish. "There are players in the current team on tour to England and there are certain players that are in the provisional squad of 30 that are not there, but the vast majority of players have shared their concerns." "I'm in constant communication with them [CSA] at the moment, so we will see what develops." New Zealand Cricket confirmed it will meet with its players to discuss their concerns. The ICC has promised to establish a task force which will head to Pakistan prior to the tournament to evaluate security measures in the cities that will play host to matches - Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi. But that has done little to quell the fears of the New Zealanders. An NZC statement issued on Friday read: "New Zealand Cricket is talking to the New Zealand Cricket Players Association about player safety and security concerns following the International Cricket Council's overnight decision that the ICC Champions Trophy remain in Pakistan. "NZC CEO Justin Vaughan said he would also discuss player concerns with the NZC Board as well as the safety and security reports upon which the decision was based." New Zealand Cricket Players' Association boss Heath Mills revealed his organisation would be recommending players do not travel to Pakistan. "We're very strong on the position that player safety should be the number one priority when making these sorts of decisions," he said. "Given the reports that we've read and the meetings that we've attended there is no way that we could recommend to the players that they travel to Pakistan at this point in time. "We don't really see how the ICC or New Zealand Cricket could guarantee that that is a safe workplace for the players. I don't see our position changing any time soon." New Zealand Cricket is likely to face a substantial fine if a team is not sent to the tournament which is scheduled to begin on September 11. |