"There has been a lot of rain in Quetta and the Bugti stadium where the camp was to be held was not ready and also lacked some required facilities. So we decided to shift it to Lahore," PCB Director of communications Ehsan Malik said today.

But sources close to the players confirmed that security concerns among the players was one of the major reasons for not holding the camp in Quetta.

"Some players were worried about their security given the current situation in Quetta and the Balochistan province overall. The local authorities also advised the Board not to take any risk," disclosed one source.

There have been a number of suicide bomb explosions and ambush attacks on security forces in Quetta and other parts of the southwestern province, which has also been ravaged by the recent cyclone yemyin with over a 100 feared dead and some 1.5 million people left homeless.

"Clearly the situation was not conducive for having the cricket camp in Quetta. Whoever took the decision to schedule it there in the first place should have been well aware of the ground realities before making such a blunder," the source said.

The Bugti stadium was built a couple of years ago but despite being of international standard, it has not been used for international tournament or camp mainly due to the uncertain security situation in the city.

The camp is part of a three-phase process by the selectors and the Board to get the players ready for the inaugural twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September.

The players have already attended a two-week camp in Abbotabad under the supervision of army instructors and the third phase is planned in Karachi from August 10 after the second one concludes on the July 23.