England expect the ICC Champions Trophy to be moved from Pakistan to Sri Lanka in the next 48 hours, The Times was told last night. The ICC insisted yesterday that the competition, due to start on September 12, will go ahead in Pakistan as planned, but the boards and players from Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa believe that there is an “unacceptable risk”. They were the words of the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), which hardened its stance against Pakistan as a venue yesterday.

The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) in England has not been so vocal, but privately it has made its position against Pakistan unequivocal to the ECB, which is expected to follow Australia’s lead. “The efforts made by the Pakistan Cricket Board and the security consultants are incredible and we have to congratulate them,” Sean Morris, the PCA chief executive, said. “But the players have made their position very clear to the ECB and we are very comfortable that the ECB have got a good grip of the situation and we await their representation.”

Owais Shah, the England batsman, who was born in Karachi, said: “The whole team has got concerns about going. We’re waiting for a decision by the board to see what happens.”

Sri Lanka has its own security issues, but sources close to the England team said that they would be far easier to assess than those in Pakistan.

Earlier Paul Marsh, the ACA chief executive, said: “The ACA has discussed the situation with its executive and our position is we can’t recommend to our players they should tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. Unfortunately, in this case, we don’t believe it is safe.”

Cricket Australia (CA) said that it was awaiting an official ICC report from meetings with other concerned nations, but backed the position of its players. “The ICC has got the unambiguous understanding from a collective view on Pakistan,” Peter Young, the CA spokesman, said. “The ball is in their court.”

Creagh O’Connor and James Sutherland, the chairman and chief executive of CA respectively, held talks with David Morgan, the ICC president, in Beijing yesterday. Marsh’s announcement came shortly after Haroon Lorgat, the ICC president, and the ICC’s security consultant, Nicholls Steyn & Associates, briefed the ECB executive board at Lord’s and gave a press conference in a nearby hotel, in which Lorgat confirmed Pakistan as the venue. He said that the political developments in Pakistan, with Pervez Musharraf resigning as President, had not complicated the situation. “Every day, our security advisers update themselves and, in turn, us on the political environment in Pakistan,” Lorgat said.

- The abandonment yesterday of England’s Twenty20 international against South Africa, scheduled for today, because of a saturated outfield at the Riverside could have cost up to £100,000 in match-day revenue, although Durham and the ECB are insured against refunds.

David Harker, the Durham chief executive, said: “We’ve had significant rain here for 12 of the last 14 days. We’ve never called a game off this far in advance before, but there comes a point where the ground is simply not going to be playable.” The England players will have no further opportunities to state their case in the 20-overs format before the squad is chosen for the $20 million match against the Stanford All-Stars in Antigua on November 1. Once England arrive in the West Indies, they will have warm-up matches against Middlesex and Trinidad & Tobago, the English and Caribbean champions respectively, before the winners-take-all showdown.

- Ryan Sidebottom will return to the England squad tomorrow to have his hip injury reassessed before the first match of the NatWest Series against South Africa at Headingley Carnegie on Friday.

- Stephen Harmison, the England fast bowler, held his nerve in the last over to lead Durham to a six-run win against Nottinghamshire in the NatWest Pro40 first division game at Trent Bridge yesterday evening.

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