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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), its coffers drying up fast, has decided to cut down its staff by 20 per cent.

The head of the PCB, Lt. Gen Tauqir Zia, who chaired a high- level meeting here to discuss various matters in the aftermath of the aborted New Zealand tour, has asked the Board's director to abolish some of the posts.

"None of the appointments we made is redundant because we did so very carefully but still I think we need to cut down by at atleast 20 per cent," Tauqir told Dawn.

The PCB was dealt a severe blow by a suicide bomber last week who rammed his car laden with explosives into a bus parked outside the New Zealand team's hotel in Karachi that killed 14 people on the morning of the second Test.

The incident prompted New Zealand to quickly pack up and head home, leaving the PCB counting its losses, barely months after West Indies refused to tour Pakistan for a Test series, which was eventually played in Sharjah.

Tauqir said that the exact figure of the losses suffered because of the second Test was still not known. "It will take us about a week to know because TWI have sought a week's time and so have our sponsors."

"Ideally cricket was to have been played for 13 days (two Test and three one-dayers) so the five days of the second Test have to be dealt with. We will try to get the maximum we can from our sponsors," the general said.

As part of its austerity measures, the PCB is also thinking of having only one selection committee for both the junior and senior wings. Currently there are two sets of selectors.

With the PCB pondering what might have been, another worrying matter for the cricket managers in the immediate future is whether or not Australia will tour Pakistan this fall for a Test series. However Tauqir was not willing to speak on the subject. "It is too early to say, I wouldn't to commit myself." However Tauqir pointed out that things were not too bad financially as the PCB's development programs were almost complete.

Meanwhile, Monday's meeting approved the start of regional academies in Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Muridke and Karachi, each for a period of three months.

Tauqir also approved the payment of 50 percent of match fee to the players for the second Test despite the complete loss of revenue.

© Dawn