Dates agreed for Australia’s tour of Pakistan April 21, 2008

Australia will fulfill their commitment to tour Pakistan before they host the return series in late 2009, the Pakistan Cricket Board has revealed. However, given the constraints of the Future Tours Programme (FTP), it is likely that the Test and one-day legs will be split.

Australia, who haven’t toured Pakistan since 1998-99, were originally scheduled to go to Pakistan in March, but postponed the trip due to security concerns. An official announcement of the revised programme is imminent.

“We have reached an agreement on the dates with Australia,” Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB’s chief operating officer, said. “We do not want to announce the final programme just yet, but I can confirm that they will carry out their commitments before Pakistan visits next year. The dates will be announced in the next couple of days.” Pakistan are currently due to travel to Australia in November and December 2009.

It is expected Australia will first play five ODIs and a Twenty20 before coming back to complete their three-Test commitment. Naghmi refused to confirm the schedule, but hinted at the possibility. “If you look at the FTP between now and then,” he said, “it is very difficult to find a free stretch of dates for the entire tour to be completed in one go.”

The only window in the FTP until the end of this year for the ODIs appears to be in August or September, before the Champions Trophy begins in Pakistan. It would be an ideal warm-up for both sides as they gear up for the ICC tournament.

ECB offer to Pakistan a possible 30 million Dollars March 28, 2008

LAHORE, March 27: The England and Wales Cricket Board has come forward to host the postponed Australia-Pakistan Test series. If the Pakistan Cricket Board accepts the offer to play Australia in England in July, two of the three Test matches would be held in London and one in another city.
The Dawn reported that the ECB had verbally offered $10 million to the PCB for each Test match. The PCB earlier ruled out the chances of holding the series at any neutral venue. But now the board chairman, Mr Nasim Ashraf, has informed members of the governing board of the offer. The members have asked him to wait till he receives a written offer from the ECB, which is expected anytime.
The ECB’s helping hand can assist the Pakistan board in offsetting huge losses, which were incurred owing to the late withdrawal of Australia from the March-April tour for security reasons.

Australia postpone Pakistan tour March 11, 2008

Australia have confirmed that they will not go ahead with their scheduled tour of Pakistan later this month due to security concerns. The series has not officially been cancelled but rather postponed, however it is unlikely to be played this year.

“We are very sorry that the tour could not take place at this time,” Creagh O’Connor, Cricket Australia’s chairman, said. “This was a difficult decision based on independent review of the circumstances prevailing in Pakistan at the moment. We wish no loss to the Pakistan Cricket Board and look forward to undertaking this tour in the near future.”

O’Connor and Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the PCB, will meet in Dubai next weekend in an attempt to determine possible dates for the deferred tour.

“We are obviously very disappointed at this decision,” Ashraf said. “I guess there is not much we could do and we sincerely hope that the tour of Australia to Pakistan can materialise at the earliest opportunity.”

James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, said Australia’s busy programme meant it would not be easy to find a spot to reschedule the series. “There’s a couple of windows in 2009 and 2010,” Sutherland said. “There might be a little bit of massaging in order to make that happen but I guess that’s what we’re setting our sights on at the moment. The way our programme is at the moment, for Australian players, it’s probably unlikely [we can play sooner].”

In recent weeks it had become increasingly unlikely that Australia would go ahead with the tour as some players were reportedly unwilling to go due to concerns about ongoing violence in the country. However, Sutherland said neither the opinion of the players nor the latest bombings – at least 15 people were killed in suicide attacks in Lahore on Tuesday, less than two hours before the announcement – had influenced the decision.

“We drew some conclusions from our discussions with the government and other advisers last week that saw us in a position of really seeing that there wouldn’t be any other alternative,” he said. “We raised that matter with the Pakistan Cricket Board at the end of last week and left them to consider the implications of that over the weekend.

“We’re very disappointed that this tour won’t be going ahead. We’ve left no stone unturned in trying to ensure that the tour could proceed as planned but at the end of the day for us the safety and security of our employees must come first and we’ve been left with no alternative.”

Cricket Australia was briefed by the Australian government last week, however Sutherland said the recommendations of independent advisers had also been taken into consideration. “The starting point is to look at the federal government’s advice to Australian travelers to Pakistan and it’s not favourable,” he said. “The question for us is then to have a closer look and say, what are the implications for an Australian cricket team given those quite serious warnings that are in place.”

Pak-Bangladesh series to be held as an alternative to Australia test tour: Nasim Ashraf March 11, 2008

ISLAMABAD: Bangladesh have agreed in principle to play a one-day series in Pakistan next month as an alternative to Australia test tour, which was postponed because of security concerns.

The world champions were due to visit Pakistan at the end of this month for a 30-day tour but put the trip on hold after a spate of suicide bombings following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto late last year.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf told a news conference that although Bangladesh were set to play next month, Pakistan were hoping the postponed series against Australia would be held soon.

“The series will be some time in April,” he said, referring to the Bangladesh tour, adding the venues and dates would be worked out in the next few days.

“We hope to host Australia for a full series before we go to there in late 2009,” Ashraf added.

“They took their decision after much deliberations and we accept that. We just want to hold this series soon.”

Ashraf hoped the Australian’s tour postponement would not affect the organisation of the Asia Cup in June or other ICC future tour programmes in Pakistan, including the Champions Trophy in September.

“We maintain conditions are still conducive to hold cricket events in Pakistan,” he added.

“Our security plans have also been very good. Teams have toured Pakistan in recent times and have had no problems. The Australians have based their decision on their own assessment of security situation in Pakistan.”

The PCB chief added that he did not feel Australia’s decision had anything to do with their players appearing in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament in April.

Batting holds the key as Australia face Pakistan February 24, 2008

Australia and Pakistan have faced similar problems in the lead-up to their quarter-final clash at the Kinrara Oval: the batsmen of both teams have failed to fire.

Australia had one impressive showing against Namibia when captain Michael Hill’s brutal 124 off 71 balls led them to 312 but even in that match their lower-middle order collapsed. In the next two games, Australia were restricted by Nepal to 206 and Sri Lanka’s spinners dried up the runs so effectively that Australia could muster only 172. Several of their top-order batsmen – Phillip Hughes, Hill and Steven Smith – have got off to aggressive starts but they haven’t been able to carry on. The bowling attack has been the main reason for Pakistan’s unbeaten run in the league phase and will severely test Australia’s batting.

Pakistan’s batting has struggled even more than Australia’s. They are yet to pass 200 in the tournament, having been dismissed for 156 against New Zealand and restricted to 173 for 8 by Zimbabwe, a team that lost to Malaysia. Their opening combination has failed to click, with Umar Akmal, the younger brother of Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran, yet to reach double figures.

The encouraging aspect for Pakistan, however, is that their bowlers – led by Adil Raza, a right-arm fast bowler, who has taken eight wickets at 7.75 apiece – have been red hot, managing to defend whatever target their batsmen have set. They ripped through Malaysia for 75, dismissed New Zealand for 129 and allowed Zimbabwe only 86.

At Monday’s knockout, it could come down to which batting side performs on the day to set up a semi-final clash against South Africa.