The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will
not affect Australia's upcoming tour of the country, Cricket Australia
today said.
CA spokesman Peter Young said there was no imminent danger to the tour
and a final decision will be taken later, near the scheduled beginning of the
tour.
"It's an appalling tragedy and we only hope that the civil situation in
Pakistan can improve. But it has no impact over the cricket from a touring
point of view.
"We will make our decision in late January or February, closer to the
proposed dates," Young was quoted as saying by the 'Courier Mail'.
However, the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd expressed
concerns and said the government would monitor the developments in Pakistan
to be sure of the safety of players.
Australia are scheduled to play three Tests, five one-day internationals
and a Twenty20 match in March and April.
Australia will play in Pakistan after almost eight years, since
their last tour in 1998. Their 2002 tour was also rescheduled because of security
concerns and the then three Test-series was played on the neutral venues of
Sharjah and Sri Lanka.
|
