ISLAMABAD: The chief executive of Cricket Australia on Sunday cleared the uncertainty surrounding the bilateral series with Pakistan and said they were “very committed” to touring the South Asian nation in March next year.
Australia are due to play three Tests, three one-day internationals (ODIs) and one Twenty-20 International (T20I) in the month-long series starting March 3.
The three Test matches are scheduled to be played in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, while the three ODIs and one T20 will be played in Lahore.
“We’re working closely with the PCB, working with all the authorities to make sure that those plans are set. It’s a really big complex endeavour. We’re very committed to touring,” Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley was quoted as saying by Fox Sports Australia.
“It’ll be the first time in many, many years, so at the moment we’re going through the post reports of that. But it’s absolutely our intention to tour as long as it’s safe to do so.”
Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998 because of security concerns. A Cricket Australia team recently completed a trip to Pakistan to ensure the tour is safe, according to the report.
Hockley said it was their every intention to play in the South Asian country.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja earlier this week expressed confidence that Australia, England and New Zealand would tour Pakistan next year.
“We have made the world realize about our presence at the International Cricket Council (ICC) meetings,” Raja said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was due to send its men’s and women’s team in October, but withdrew because of “concerns” over its players’ mental health while traveling to Pakistan.
The ECB pulled out of the series just days after New Zealand Cricket said it was abandoning its series in Pakistan following a “security alert” by its government.
The news came as a shock to Pakistan, which has been struggling to revive international cricket that was suspended in the aftermath of a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.
Cricket Australia 'very committed' to tour Pakistan in March
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Cricket Australia 'very committed' to tour Pakistan in March
- Nick Hockley says they intend to tour Pakistan 'as long as it’s safe to do so'
- Australia are due to play three Tests, three ODIs and one T20 starting March 3
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
