Four-nation Twenty20 tournament on

The dates for the Canada Cup Four Nation Twenty20 tournament in Toronto have been announced, with the competition going ahead after a company, Sports International Marketing, stepped in when the original organisers backed out.

The tournament, which was organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to fill up its calendar after the postponement of their home series against Australia, had initially faced problems with the backing out of the primary sponsors, but the board has managed to bring in a Pakistan-based business house to finance the event.

The news came from the Bangladesh board, however, as a Cricket Canada spokesperson told Cricinfo that they had not yet received a signed copy of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from the sponsors. "We have finalised an MOU with the event sponsors, and the CC is in a position to be able to sign that document," said the spokesperson. "As of midday July 18 (Toronto time) the CC has not yet received a signed copy of the MOU from the event sponsors. We do understand, however, that the sponsors are in active discussions with the three other participating countries."

The competition will take place over four days from 14 August. Each team will play each other once, meaning three matches, ahead of a final and a third-place play-off, both matches on 17 August. Bangladesh and West Indies will kick off the tournament by facing each other on the morning of 14 August, while the hosts Canada will face Pakistan that afternoon.

Packed stadiums are expected for the event, with approximately 12,000 spectators expected for each game.

Canada will have already played several Twenty20 matches that month, as they will have travelled to Belfast for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. The tournament, involving the six leading Associate teams - Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland - takes place from August 2 to 5.