!!!!!CRICKETER BLOG !!!!!!

The International Cricket Council said on Monday no agreement had been reached on where Pakistan will hold its World Cup matches in February-March 2011.

"No decision has been made yet," ICC president David Morgan told a media briefing after a meeting with officials from the four co-hosts nations, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Pakistan had served legal notices on the ICC after being stripped of hosting rights in the wake of the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore on March 3 and the deteriorating security situation in the volatile nation.

Morgan clarified that while Pakistan were removed as a host location, the Pakistan Cricket Board remained a co-host and expected a final decision to be made "in the next two weeks."

The ICC clarification was viewed as an attempt to open doors to a negotiated settlement, but that appeared to have failed at Monday's meeting on the sidelines of the World Twenty20.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt told reporters as he left the three-hour meeting that he wanted Pakistan's share of 14 matches to be held on home soil.

Morgan and ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said that while the PCB had put the legal proceedings on hold, it had already been decided that World Cup matches will not be played in Pakistan.

"This meeting was the first occasion to settle misunderstandings," Lorgat told reporters.

"All we did today was to clarify to the PCB that there will be no matches in Pakistan."

Morgan added: "We want to ensure Pakistan remains a host nation and we stress the importance of Pakistan as a cricketing nation."

The ICC officials did not rule out the possibility of Pakistan holding its matches in the United Arab Emirates, where it hosted a one-day series against Australia in May-June in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

"There are already four host nations," said Morgan. "There could be a fifth country hosting matches."

Morgan declined to comment on the response of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to the current impasse.

Morgan, however, ruled out switching the 2011 World Cup to Australia and New Zealand, the designated hosts of the 2015 event.

"We did discuss the possibility of giving the 2011 World Cup to Australia and New Zealand, but that is not an option," he said. "Those two countries will hold the tournament in 2015."

Morgan said in a statement that he was "pleased we were able to come together today in a spirit of co-operation to further the process of finding a resolution to the matter.

"We had constructive discussions and I will look to follow them through with Mr Pawar (ICC vice president Sharad Pawar of India) and Mr Butt in the coming days so we can identify the best means of coming up with a recommendation on where the matches originally scheduled to take place in Pakistan can be held.

"What we need to do is settle this matter as quicky as possible within the ICC family as we need to press on with our preparations for the World Cup whcih is less than two years away."

South Africa captain Graeme Smith offered his support to under-fire India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday after the defending champions crashed out of the World Twenty20.

India's three-run defeat to England at Lord's on Sunday sparked an avalanche of criticism aimed at Dhoni with his tactical thinking coming under fire from the country's demanding fans.

"Mahendra is a very composed person but a few tactical decisions of theirs have come under scrutiny and that's always difficult to deal with as a leader," said Smith whose team face India in their final Super Eights match at Trent Bridge here on Tuesday.

"If you've captained for long enough, you've been through those phases of your career. As a leader, when things aren't going to plan, they will turn on you. How you handle yourself and handle those situations is a sign of the type of character you are and where you're going in your career.

"I certainly had a few moments like that but hopefully we won't be facing that in this competition. Maybe it's someone else's turn."

Smith added: "We all know India, on paper, are a supremely talented team with lots of options so it was a surprise to see them not perform to that standard in Super Eights."

South Africa have already sealed their place in the semi-finals are almost certain to play their last-four match here on Thursday as Group E winners.

"(Tuesday's match) is not important to the competition but we still want to go out and play well," said Smith.

"In terms of the levels which you are playing and in terms of your combinations it is important for our semi-final.

"It is about challenging ourselves to play at the levels we have been. The challenge for us is to maintain our level of play; it's a very difficult competition if you don't do that.

"It's important, no matter what the result, that we play at the level we are comfortable with.

"Twenty20 is all about adapting to situations, committing to your skills and being well-prepared tactically."

India's failure to defend their Twenty20 World Cup title could not shake Krishnamachari Srikkanth's belief in the team's ability and the chief selector insists Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men would put behind the debacle and bounce back.

A day after India crashed out of the title contention following their heart-breaking three-run defeat against England, Srikkanth said the team needed to learn from mistakes.

"Winning and losing are parts of cricket. I myself have been part of a team that won the World Cup and immediately lost badly and then came back to winning ways. Similarly, I'm sure this team too will bounce back. I'm confident of that, we just need to re-work and correct ourselves," Srikkanth told 'CNN-IBN' channel.

Srikkanth felt Indian batsmen could not negotiate the short-pitch stuff dished out by the English pacers and identified it as a grey area.

"I think we need to practise it a lot," he said.

The former opener admitted Virender Sehwag's absence -- the right-hander was ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury -- was felt by the side.

"See, guy like Sehwag, he is such a devastating batsman. He can hit any bowler in any part of the world and I think it's not just India but the entire world missed him.

"Don't forget opening is such important. Every team need a good start and Sehwag and (Gautam) Gambhir form a fantastic pair. The best thing about them is they keep rotating the strike and never get stuck," Srikkanth explained. He also took the opportunity to defend Dhoni's poor form and said every batsman goes through such lean patch.

"Every player goes through bad and good times. But I'm sure Dhoni knows how to bounce back. It's just a question of time.

"Twenty20 is very unpredictable, where everything is possible. In the IPL, did anyone expect an underdog like Deccan Chargers winning or Royal Challengers Bangalore reaching the final?" he asked.