Australia look to shorter Pakistan tour

Kuala Lumpur—Australia’s tour of Pakistan may be delayed by a month and shortened by 18 days after officials of the two boards met in Kuala Lumpur to thrash out a deal to save the trip.
But the players are so concerned about the safety situation in the country, which held elections on Monday, that there are reports individuals may boycott the visit and a second-string side might have to be sent.
Last week the Australian said some players were reluctant to travel to Pakistan and the Herald Sun has quoted an unnamed team source saying: “There is no way the players want to go.”
“Nothing has changed,” the paper reported a “high-ranking cricket source”. “A few weeks isn’t going to make much difference here or there. There are a lot of players who will decide not to go. Australia may have to field a second-string side if the tour goes ahead.”
The original 48-day itinerary has been culled to 30 in a bid to stop the trip being cancelled and the schedule of three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 will be reviewed. Cricket Australia is due to send a security delegation to Pakistan in early March - if it is safe - to assess the venues and off-field arrangements. A joint statement by the boards said: “Subject to the appropriate security clearance, and by mutual consent, the tour would be compressed and will be played tentatively between March 29 and April 27.”
“We were assured that Cricket Australia was committed to touring Pakistan,” Shafqat Naghmi, Pakistan’s chief operating officer, said after talks in Kuala Lumpur. James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, said Australia “remain committed to tour Pakistan” and “ the PCB’s preparedness to take a flexible approach to this tour is much appreciated”.
“This delay will certainly assist us to better assess the post-election situation in Pakistan,” Sutherland said. Last week Pakistan suggested Sri Lanka as an alternative venue if Australia was not content with the security arrangements, and India has also been mentioned as a possible substitute.
Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds said Wednesday he was almost certain to make himself unavailable if the scheduled tour of troubled Pakistan goes ahead.
The tour has been in doubt for some time due to security concerns, with tensions again heightened in Pakistan for this week’s elections.
There have been reports in the media that some worried players were willing to boycott the tour, sparking fears Australia might be forced to send a second-string side to Pakistan.
Neutral venues have been suggested and even India has weighed in to the debate, telling Australia it would take a dim view of the tour being cancelled.
Symonds has been outspoken about his concerns over the tour, which was this week shortened to 30 days after a meeting between Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Cricket Australia (CA) officials in Kuala Lumpur.
The tour, which was originally to include three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 clash, now appears to have been reduced to just three Tests. It is due to start in late March.
Speaking on Australian television on Wednesday, Symonds said he believed Pakistan was too great a risk. “I don’t think I would go,” he told Network Ten. “I just dread to think what would happen if someone got hurt, let alone killed.
“It’s just a situation you’d never want to find yourself in,” he added, noting that CA were aware of his views. CA were expected to send a delegation to Pakistan in early March to assess security.—Agencies