According to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials, the decision was taken after it became 'apparent' that hosting their home matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is the 'best available option' for Pakistan.

Zakir Khan, PCB's Director Operations, told Arab News that the Board explored other options but in the end opted to stick with UAE, where it has hosted most of its matches over the last three, four years.

"We did explore other options," said Zakir, a former Test pacer. "There were three venues — UAE, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe — that were under consideration. But in the end, we opted to have both the series (against Sri Lanka and England) in UAE," he added.

Zakir wasn't really ready to share much information on why the PCB opted to put all its eggs in one basket, a particularly expensive basket.

Since 2007, when Pakistan started using UAE as a neutral option following international teams' reluctance to play here, the PCB has incurred substantial losses by staging its 'home' matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

According to well-placed sources, PCB either suffers losses or fails to make enough profits from most of the matches that it stages in UAE.

However, in a recent press talk PCB chairman Ijaz Butt claimed that series taking place on offshore venues don't always result in financial losses for the Board.

"We have been forced to play away from home for the last two years but the impression that we suffer losses in every series played at a neutral venue is not correct," Butt told reporters after a meeting of the PCB governing board at the PCB headquarters in Lahore last week.

He didn't speak much on the issue. Surprisingly, the Board is quite secretive about its financial dealings, especially when it comes to the issue of hosting matches on neutral venues.

"I can't tell you anything about the financial side," said Zakir when pressed to give more details about PCB's preference for Dubai and Abu Dhabi as neutral venues.

"All I can say is that UAE is commercially more viable than the other options we have. It is also a better choice for cricketing reasons," he stressed.

However, information gathered by Arab News reveals a completely different story.

According to those details, PCB surrenders 55 percent of the gate money generated by matches played in UAE to the Emirates Cricket Board. It also shares 40 percent of the profits. That's not all. According to sources, ECB also keeps all corporate boxes.

"It's a surprising arrangement," said a source. "The PCB shares huge percentage of the revenues with a Board that is just providing it with stadiums to host matches. They can pay a rental for those venues. It will be much cheaper," he added.

Back in 2008, the Board had this option. Aamir Sohail, the former Pakistan Test opener, was put on a committee to chalk out details of financial arrangements that were being made with the Emirates Cricket Board officials regarding the use of cricket facilities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Aamir was at that time working for the PCB as one of its directors. During a meeting with ECB officials in Karachi, he insisted on acquiring the facilities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on rent. However, he was taken off the committee just days before the final negotiations with ECB officials.

Since then, PCB has been hosting most of its home matches in UAE. It seldom makes enough profits.

Earlier this month, the Board opted to host its 'home' series against Sri Lanka in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The series, which will be played in October-November will include three Tests, five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 game.

Later, in January-February next year, Pakistan will host a full series against England at the same venues. Though the itinerary is yet to be finalized, it is expected that the series will include three Tests, five One-day Internationals and one or two Twenty20 Internationals. PCB officials are also mulling over the option of having a three-match T20 series against England. In that case, the series will include four ODIs instead of five.