Cricket Australia says 'monitoring situation' for Pakistan tour

Australia's Steve Smith (L) speaks with captain Tim Paine (R) on the third day of the second cricket Test match against Pakistan in Adelaide on December 1, 2019. (AFP/File)

• Australians are scheduled to tour Pakistan next year in their first trip to the country since 1998
• Possibility of tour materializing looks slim after England and New Zealand pulled out of scheduled series

ISLAMABAD: Cricket Australia has said it was “monitoring the situation” regarding its scheduled tour of Pakistan early next year, Pakistan’s Geo News reported, quoting a spokesperson.
The Australians are scheduled to tour Pakistan for a full series next year in what would be their first to the country since 1998.
But the possibility of the tour materializing looks slim after England on Monday called off their men’s and women’s teams tour of Pakistan next month citing the “mental and physical well-being” of the players. This followed New Zealand’s abrupt abandonment of their tour minutes before the opening fixture in Rawalpindi on Friday following a security alert from their government.
“We are monitoring the situation and talk with the relevant authorities once more information becomes known,” Cole Hitchcock, a spokesperson for Cricket Australia, said in an email to Geo News.
In a virtual press conference, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja said he expected the Australians “will probably do what the New Zealanders and England have done.”
“So there goes our domestic international calendar.”
Shunned by all after the deadly 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore, Pakistan have been trying to woo back top international teams.