The International Cricket Council (ICC) Tuesday vowed to keep the game alive despite a terror attack wounding six Sri Lankan players in Lahore but scratched Pakistan out of the list of venues for international matches in the foreseeable future.

'The world is a dangerous place but cricket must go on. It will go on. It's a great game and a great solace to so many people,' declared a somber-looking ICC President David Morgan at a hurriedly-convened news conference here.

Morgan and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Logat, under sustained questioning from reporters, indicated the 2011 World Cup, set to be staged in the Indian subcontinent may now be held in only three countries - India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

'The World Cup is due to be staged in the Indian subcontinent shared between four countries. That is the current plan, but the ICC board will have to think very carefully about the extent to which Pakistan will be used for that event,' Morgan said.

'I think it's difficult to see international cricket being played in Pakistan in the foreseeable future,' Logat said, and spelt out the choice for Pakistani cricketers: 'It's better that Pakistan chooses to play cricket in neutral venues rather than not play at all.'