Najam Sethi: ‘Pakistan doing everything we can to host the Asia Cup’

Following crunch talks in the United Arab Emirates, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Najam Sethi tells Alison Mitchell that there is still hope of holding the Asia Cup in Pakistan.The location of the Asia Cup has been in doubt for some time. Pakistan are due to host the tournament in September, but last year the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Jay Shah said that it would need to be held in a neutral venue, stating “we can't go there and they can't come here.”Sethi says he has presented a hybrid model to Asian Cricket Council members, which guarantees that India would not need to play any matches in Pakistan with even the final being played in a neutral venue. Sethi says that if an agreement cannot be reached there is “a very distinct possibility” that Pakistan’s government will prevent the national team from travelling to India for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in October.Sethi, who is currently chairman on an interim basis, says he expects to continue in the role for a three-year term and one of his plans is to launch a women’s league. He says he’s already in the process of sanctioning almost one billion rupees for the development of women’s cricket in Pakistan.Also on Stumped, Jim Maxwell and Sunil Gupta pay tribute to the careers of England’s Katherine Sciver-Brunt and South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail, as the fast bowlers both announced their retirement from international cricket.Plus, we’re re-joined by former cricket journalist Jenny Thompson, who is travelling around the world to experience women’s cricket in as many different countries as she can. Since we last spoke with her in March, she has ticked off Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea and Papua New Guinea.