Australia is set to visit Pakistan for all format series in March 2022 with national selector George Bailey terming the security plans as “very, very robust and very, very thorough”.
Australia is ready to tour Pakistan with a full-strength squad as no player has so far expressed any hesitancy about traveling to Pakistan. The last time Pakistan had an ICC event on its soil was when it co-hosted with India and Sri Lanka in 1996. The terrorist attack happened in 2009 at the Sri Lanka cricket team bus in Lahore and after that, no one come to tour Pakistan till 2019.
Last year, New Zealand had withdraw its tour of Pakistan just before the toss of the match by citing security issues. Then, the England tour was also scheduled after the Black Caps visit but they had also pulled out the tour of Pakistan.
Australia is coming to tour Pakistan after 24 years for all format series, with National selector George Bailey terming the security plans as “very, very robust and very, very thorough”.
Cricket Australia Chief Executive Nick Hockley had suggested earlier that they are working with all security agencies to make sure the security arrangements.
“I believe the boards are still working through some of the minor details around that tour, so once that gets the formal tick of approval then we’ll announce the squad post that, but we’re reasonably well down the track,”
Bailey told reporters on Tuesday according to Cricket Australia’s website.
The last time Australia visited Pakistan was in 1998, under Mark Taylor’s captaincy.
Now, Pakistan will have a busy schedule in the upcoming years because they will host the team Australia, New Zealand, and England in the time from March 2022 to April 2023.
“Whether we need to (see any Shield cricket) or not, I’m not entirely sure what opportunity we will get,”
Bailey said.
“But the one thing that I think we have to be just okay with is that we’ve got to accept what we get at the moment and be flexible.
“I think one of the great things and possibly one of the reasons the players performed so well in the Ashes was there were some players who got a good bank of Shield cricket in before that series.
“Whether it’s for Pakistan or not, you’d certainly hope that there is an opportunity for some Shield cricket at some stage just because of the competition and to continue to see guys improving and getting the opportunity to show their wares,”
Bailey added.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had announced the schedule that the three test match series will be played in Karachi, Rawalpindi, and Lahore. The white-ball series will be played in Lahore from March 29 to April 5.
