PCA Respond To Ali Bacher Interview In Daily Telegraph – 08/05/2004

PCA Respond To Ali Bacher Interview In Daily Telegraph – 08/05/2004 The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) responds to Ali Bacher interview by Sue Mott in Daily Telegraph, May 8th In today’s Daily Telegraph article, The innings may be over, but the great statesman remains undefeated, Ali Bacher claims that he still awaits an answer from English cricket as to why they could not compete in Harare during the World Cup in 2003 on security grounds. Richard Bevan, PCA group chief executive, responded: ” As head of the World Cup, Bacher was invited on a number of occasions during key times in that tournament to meet the England team and to allay their fears following conflicting reports on security issues in Harare by the ICC security directorate. Bacher refused to meet the players on each occasion. ” Ali Bacher was recorded as saying that the England fixture would not be moved from Harare due to political considerations regarding the South African bid for the soccer World Cup 2010. Bacher showed no concern as to whether the England team played or not in Harare. Bacher refused to deny these comments in a subsequent Sky Sports interview.” For more information, please call: Andrew Baud, BANC, +44 (0) 7775 715775 Richard Bevan, PCA, +44 (0) 7860 474767