Cricket Aust won't consider Pakistan move

Australia's cricket team won't play this year in Pakistan for the first time in two decades, despite reports a request had been made for a T20 match there.

Cricket Australia (CA) has indicated it won't consider allowing any matches to be moved to Pakistan for their tour later this year to the United Arab Emirates.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) officials confirmed on Wednesday they had been approached by Pakistani authorities to move Twenty20 matches to the country at the end of the year, from the UAE.

Australia are also due to play Pakistan in September and October, with three Tests drafted in for the UAE and a one-off T20 match on yet-to-be-confirmed dates.

According to Pakistani media, a request has been made to CA to move the T20 match to Pakistan, following in the footsteps of Sri Lanka and the West Indies in the past year.

International cricket has barely been played in Pakistan since 2009, after an attack on the Sri Lankan team bus.

Sri Lanka were the first team to return to the country with a T20 last October in Lahore, before the West Indies played a three-match series last month in Karachi.

But a CA spokesman said they were not considering moving any matches.

"The safety and security of Australian players is our number one priority," he told AAP.

"From an Australia team perspective, we are not contemplating moving our current bilateral-tour arrangements from taking on Pakistan in the Middle East, when they host the next series."

Australia hasn't played in Pakistan since 1998, and the two countries have since used the UAE, England and Sri Lanka as neutral venues during tours.

Meanwhile, a New Zealand spokesman confirmed they were investigating whether they were willing to play their T20 series later this year in Pakistan.

The Black Caps haven't visited Pakistan since 2003, a year after being forced to abandon a Test tour due to a bomb exploding outside their Karachi hotel.

"At the moment, NZC is doing due diligence on the request and consulting with security providers, the government and the players," a spokesman said.

"We will respond to the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) when this process has been completed."


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Source: AAP


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