Source: The Age

PAKISTAN would be willing to play in Australia if the scheduled tour to the sub-continent nation in March is scrapped due to security fears.

While the Pakistan board would only consider the move in a “worst-case scenario”, the revelation gives renewed hope the series will be played regardless of the fallout of Pakistan’s general election on February 18. Cricket Australia is investigating whether players and officials would be safe to tour after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in December, which has been followed by two deadly terrorist attacks in the past fortnight.

A Pakistan Cricket Board member said if Cricket Australia deemed the tour hazardous, they would discuss switching the schedule to play the series here, and then have Ricky Ponting’s side visit in November next year when Pakistan is supposed to travel to Australia.

Playing the series at a neutral venue will not happen, according to the PCB official. “It is only the last resort, only a worst-case scenario, but if something happens and Australia can’t come, then the board will discuss playing the series in Australia,” he said on the condition of anonymity.

“If worst comes to worst, then perhaps (playing in Australia) is a better idea, as long as we swap. That would be an acceptable scenario.

“I would like the Pakistani spectators to watch Australia in their own stadiums, now or next year. But the first priority is that Australia comes here.

“A neutral venue is out. It doesn’t help anybody to play at a neutral venue, if it is played in a third country those spectators wouldn’t be interested, and we would rather entertain Australian crowds than fans from other countries.”

A decision on the tour will be made by CA in three weeks, and if it is cancelled, there will be problems arranging games in Australia with the football codes kicking off in March.

Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are loaded with National Rugby League and AFL matches that month. Already there is another possible clash in the works, with St George Illawarra and Wests Tigers due to play in the opening round of the NRL at the SCG on March 16, while the NSW cricket team could be hosting the final of the Pura Cup at the venue on the same day.

The AFL starts on March 20 and there are three games scheduled at the MCG on the opening weekend.

Australia is slated to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 game against Pakistan, and those matches would likely need to be shared around by the WACA Ground, Adelaide Oval, Bellerive Oval in Hobart and possibly Canberra’s Manuka Oval if CA agrees to shifting the tour.

It’s hardly ideal, but still a valid option given the unpredictability in Pakistan, where Bhutto’s death has created a combustible environment. A suicide bombing in Lahore left more than 20 people dead on January 10, while terrorists detonated a bomb in a busy marketplace in Karachi four days later, killing nine.

But individual incidents would not sway the decision, a CA spokesman said last week. The process being used to evaluate the situation is identical to that used before Australia cancelled its Pakistan tour in 2002, and includes discussion with the host cricket board and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“We are going through a very careful process which is devised to give us dispassionate, independent, and expert advice,” spokesman Peter Young said. “We are anxious not to expose our players and support staff to any danger.”

But the Zimbabwe cricket team has been in Pakistan since January 12 and have continued playing a series without security issues thus far.

“The only reason the tour should be cancelled is because of a real security threat, not on the basis of apprehension or over-concern,” the PCB official said. “The security of the Australian players is of the utmost importance to us. I think that 10 to 12 days after the election, things will be much clearer, and we will know where everything stands.”

Australia is due in the country 20 days after the election.

It’s hardly ideal, but still a valid option given the unpredictability in Pakistan, where Bhutto’s death has created a combustible environment. A suicide bombing in Lahore left more than 20 people dead on January 10, while terrorists detonated a bomb in a busy marketplace in Karachi four days later, killing nine.

But individual incidents would not sway the decision, a CA spokesman said last week. The process being used to evaluate the situation is identical to that used before Australia cancelled its Pakistan tour in 2002, and includes discussion with the host cricket board and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“We are going through a very careful process which is devised to give us dispassionate, independent, and expert advice,” spokesman Peter Young said. “We are anxious not to expose our players and support staff to any danger.”

But the Zimbabwe cricket team has been in Pakistan since January 12 and have continued playing a series without security issues thus far.

“The only reason the tour should be cancelled is because of a real security threat, not on the basis of apprehension or over-concern,” the PCB official said. “The security of the Australian players is of the utmost importance to us. I think that 10 to 12 days after the election, things will be much clearer, and we will know where everything stands.”

Australia is due in the country 20 days after the election.

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Tags: australia, Cricket, Pakistan, PCB