PCB chief claims progress in World Cup dispute

DUBAI: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt was "encouraged" with the progress of talks with the International Cricket Council to resolve the dispute between the two sides over hosting rights of the 2011 World Cup. No final decision was made on how to resolve the ongoing dispute which began when the ICC had decided to move Pakistan's share of 14 matches out of the country due to safety concerns at a board meeting in April. The matches were redistributed among India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the three other co-hosts. The PCB then launched legal proceedings against the ICC, but had kept those proceedings on hold after agreeing to resolve the issue through talks. Butt met ICC president David Morgan in Dubai and the two sides are happy with the progress made. "I am grateful to David for taking the time to meet with me this morning and I am very encouraged by the discussions we have had," Butt said. "The PCB is keen to settle this matter out of court as soon as possible and I believe we are making good progress towards doing exactly that. "I will now report back to my board to inform them of developments and we look forward to further talks in the near future to bring this matter to resolution." Morgan said he was confident a resolution could be reached. "On the basis of the meeting I am confident we can bring this matter to resolution in the near future so that we can all focus on the key objective for the ICC and all its members - the staging of a successful ICC Cricket World Cup in the Asian sub-continent in 2011."