Malaysia insist Pakistan-Sri Lanka series is on

The Malaysian cricket board has denied suggestions that the three-match one-day series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, scheduled for the last week of May in Kuala Lumpur, is to be cancelled due to a lack of sponsorship.

The Pakistani newspaper, The Nation, reported that the series was likely to be cancelled due to funding and other issues, but C Sivanandan, the Malaysian board's secretary, has refuted this claim.

"No decision has been made about calling it off," Sivanandan said. "The report is untrue and the series is on. We are quite confident that in the next two to three days a title sponsor will be announced. In any case, we have sufficient funds to carry on even if a sponsor does not come on board."

Sivanandan added that the claims about Kuala Lumpur's grounds lacking sufficient infrastructure were also false. "We have five turf wickets which were used for the ICC Trophy and Commonwealth Games," he said. "The ICC sent Gundappa Viswanath [the former Indian batsman and now match referee] to inspect the facilities, and he provided a positive report. We have met his only recommendation, which was to extend the length of the dressing rooms."

Sivanandan insisted he was confident both teams would field strong teams for the series. "We have been given assurances that both teams will bring their stars - we are expecting full-strength teams." He also denied that the board had already paid $US 50,000 to each team, as was suggested in the report.