Cricket Australia says monitoring situation for Pakistan tour
September 22, 2021
- Cricket Australia say they are monitoring situation for Pakistan tour.
- PCB chief says Australia may also follow England and New Zealand.
- Australian cricket team is scheduled to play in Pakistan next year.
KARACHI: Cricket Australia has said that it is monitoring the situation regarding its scheduled tour to Pakistan early next year.
The Australians are scheduled to tour Pakistan for a full series in February, March next year. The tour, if goes ahead as planned, would be the first by Australians to the country since 1998.
However, the possibility of the tour is now facing uncertainties following withdrawal by New Zealand and England from Pakistan’s tour.
Even Ramiz Raja, the newly elected chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), feared that Australia may follow the footsteps of England and Australia.
When Geo News contacted Cricket Australia, the CA spokesman said that they’re monitoring the situation.
“We are monitoring the situation and talk with the relevant authorities once more information becomes known,” responded Cole Hitchcock of Cricket Australia in a short email.
Pakistan Cricket suffered a big blow last Friday when New Zealand, minutes before the toss of the first ODI in Rawalpindi, announced to abandon the tour citing a “security alert”, without sharing any details of the threat with the PCB.
New Zealand’s pull out was followed by England’s decision to withdraw from a short tour of Pakistan.
The ECB, however, didn’t make security as an excuse but said that touring in present circumstances could add further pressure on players who are already coped with a long period of operating in restricted COVID-19 environments.
