Australia’s refusal forces Pakistan to play ODIs in UAE

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket authorities were forced to schedule all five One-day Internationals against Australia in the United Arab Emirates after the Aussies refused to visit the country over security fe ars.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had invited Australia to play two of the five One-day Internationals in Pakistan to further their attempts to revive international cricket at home, suspended since attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009.

Since then Pakistan have hosted finals of Pakistan Super League for the last two years and played matches against a World XI, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.A West Indies women’s team played three Twenty20 internationals in Karachi from January 31-February 3 this year.

But Cricket Australia (CA) acted on their government’s advise not to tour Pakistan.PCB director Zakir Khan showed disappointment over Australia’s refusal to tour.“The PCB was optimistic that it will be able to convince Australia to send its side for some matches after successfully staging high-profile bilateral international series,” said Khan.

“But we are disappointed for the enthusiastic and passionate cricket fans in Pakistan who will now have to wait for some more time before they can see Australia playing in our country.”The scheduling of the series has long been a subject of interest, partly because of the PCB’s hopes of organising at least part of it in Pakistan, which would have meant Australia’s first visit to the country in over 20 years. But its timing is important because it could be the scene of the returns to international cricket of David Warner and Steven Smith.

The series, which begins from March 22, sees the bans handed out to Smith and Warner end in the middle of it.The five-match series will also kick off both team’s preparation for the World Cup to be held in England from May 30-July 14.

Sharjah will host the first two matches followed by matches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Itinerary:

22 March: 1st ODI, Sharjah (d/n)

24 March: 2nd ODI, Sharjah (d/n)

27 March: 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi (d/n)

29 March: 4th ODI, Dubai (d/n)

31 March: 5th ODI, Dubai (d/n)