CA to send its inspection team in early March
'Pakistan Times' Sports Desk

LAHORE: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Cricket Australia (CA), James Sutherland has said that they remain committed to tour Pakistan this March/April.

He made this observation after a meeting with the Chief Operating Officer (COO) ,Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB),Shafqat Nagmi on the sidelines of ICC Scheduling Summit in Kualal Lumpur on Tuesday.

“CA will send its inspection team to Pakistan in early March to assess the venues and security arrangements”,said CA official adding “ Subject to appropriate security clearance and by mutual consent, the tour would be compressed and will be played tentatively between March 29 and April 27.

A spokesman of PCB said here the tour was initially scheduled to start on March 10 to April 27.

Sutherland said PCB’s preparedness to take a flexible approach to this tour is much appreciated. The delay will certainly assist us to better assess the post-election situation in Pakistan.

Shafqat Naghmi said he discussed the prospects of the scheduled Australia tour to Pakistan with CEO,CA and he was glad that he had very open and fruitful discussions.

“We were assured that CA was committed to touring Pakistan”said the PCB official.

“While the dates of the tour have been agreed in principle, the contents and format of the tour itinerary will be finalized by cricket operations departments of both Boards in the next week”, he said.●