Cricket Australia checks security in Pakistan

A six-member Cricket Australia delegation has been in Pakistan to assess the security and facilities ahead of two tours later this year. The Australia A side will visit Pakistan in September followed by the Under-19 squad, and the national team is also set to go in March 2008, its first tour to Pakistan in ten years.

"It's a routine assessment tour," Michael Brown, Cricket Australia's general manager of operations, told reporters after visiting Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium. "We assess facilities and security wherever Australian teams tour."

Australia refused to tour Pakistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the USA. The refusal forced Pakistan to play its home series at neutral venues in Sri Lanka and Sharjah in 2002.

Brown said the assessment was only for the A and Under-19 tours. "It's important because we want players to get a safe environment and concentrate on playing," he said.

The delegation includes Steve Bernard, the Australian team manager, Geoff Allardice, the cricket manager, Reg Dickason, the security manager, Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Players' Association, and Daryl Foster, the biomechanics expert. The men will also tour Islamabad and Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where the Australian A team is due to play. The A side successfully toured Pakistan in 2005 without facing any problems.