ICC has its hands tied

Haroon Lorgat has admitted that the ICC cannot force anyone to tour Pakistan

The International Cricket Council says it cannot force member countries to tour Pakistan.

Pakistan have not played a Test match this year with Australia and New Zealand cancelling scheduled tours and the ICC Champions Trophy being postponed.

India are scheduled to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 international in a tour starting mid-January next year, but that series is in doubt due to the deteriorating diplomatic relations between the two countries following the Mumbai terrorist attack.

Some former Pakistan players have accused member countries of employing double standards, with several refusing to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in September due to safety concerns.

"The context is very, very different," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.

"When talking about the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, the ICC has gone to great lengths to ensure safety and security. But that was a multinational event.

"Members took a different view and we needed to respect such decisions.

Lorgat said the ICC could not force teams to tour Pakistan if the safety and security of its players were in doubt.

"We will continue to impress upon member countries to take the right decisions to keep the game of cricket going provided that safety and security measures allow that to happen," he said.

"More than that we cannot force member countries to play bilateral series. We will try and encourage and play an aiding role.

"We cannot do something on which we have no influence. For example, if a government says that you cannot go I respect that. It is a government decision and nothing that ICC could do.”

Lorgat reiterated that it was too early to think of shifting the 2011 World Cup out of the subcontinent.

"It is a long away to the World Cup," he said. "I think what happened yesterday would not necessarily determine the way we do something tomorrow.

"We are going ahead with the planning for the World Cup and closer to the time do what we always do, which is to assess safety and the security.

"The key would be that we don't wait for too long.”