Lee says Pakistan tour in hands of Cricket Australia

BRISBANE (Australia)—Australian fast bowler Brett Lee said Sunday that any decision on whether or not the world champions tour Pakistan next month is in the hands of Australian officials. Lee was responding to reports from Pakistan that Zimbabwe’s successful tour there showed that it would be safe for Australia to undertake their scheduled visit in March and April.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said the Zimbabwe tour had been a test case for Australia. “Now I can say with authority and pride that we have successfully hosted matches and hope that the world champions will tour,” Naghmi told AFP in Karachi.
“We hosted Zimbabwe matches in smaller centres like Hyderabad and Sheikhupura and hosting of these matches without any problems prove that there are no threats for players.” Several Australian players have raised security concerns on touring Pakistan where the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto in December last year triggered widespread violence.
But Lee said he couldn’t comment on whether the Zimbabwe tour would have any bearing on a future Australian tour. “We’ve got people on the ground over there and we’re just guided by Cricket Australia every single day as to what’s going to happen over there,” Lee said. “It’s pretty much out of our hands — it’s up to them to work out what’s the best thing for us.” Zimbabwe continued their Pakistan tour despite a deadly bomb blast in Karachi last month. They played matches in Karachi, Hyderabad, Multan, Faisalabad and Sheikhupura during their three-week stay. Australia are scheduled to tour Pakistan for three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match in March-April, a visit which has come under serious doubt over security fears.
Lee won the battle against Tendulkar yet again, although this time he was lucky. Tendulkar nudged off the back foot towards square leg but moved too deep into the crease and hit his stumps with the heel of his boot. It was the first time he had been dismissed hit-wicket in his 408-match career.
At 2 for 26, with the experienced openers gone, Australia had exposed India’s middle order, which was weakened by Yuvraj Singh’s absence. Gambhir and Sharma, however, eased the pressure by stealing singles. Sharma took eight balls to get off the mark but his confidence grew with each powerfully struck square drive. Australia’s slip catching let them down once again: Gambhir, on 24, was let off twice in three balls by Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting, and he cashed in by being severe on Ashley Noffke, cutting the debutant repeatedly over point.
Noffke offered the batsmen too much width and was replaced after leaking 27 runs off four overs. Ponting turned once again to his ace bowler and Lee repaid that faith with a couple of crucial wickets.
Johnson, who vented his frustration after the dropped catches, started the slide by trapping Gambhir lbw for 39 before Lee’s double-strike ripped through the middle order. Sharma edged a wide ball from Lee to Gilchrist and Tiwary, who was set up by a series of bouncers, had no answer to a yorker that sped through his defences.
The flurry of wickets allowed Ponting to give Noffke a second spell and the move gave him his maiden ODI wicket. Noffke surprised Robin Uthappa with a short ball and the edge was comfortably taken by Michael Clarke at point. India had slipped from 2 for 92 to 6 for 102. The collapse forced Dhoni and Irfan Pathan to consolidate watchfully and they had added 45 runs off 12.5 overs before Pathan was run out. Harbhajan Singh once again got stuck into Australia with a flurry of boundaries to add 42 runs at 8.12 runs per over with Dhoni that propped India up to 194.—Agencies