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Australian cricket coach Tim Nielsen and his assistants are forging ahead with plans for tour of Pakistan, in spite of extreme doubt about it going ahead. The fate of Australia’s first full scale trip Pakistan since Mark Taylor’s tour in 1998, hinges largely upon the results and aftermath of Monday’s elections.

In recent days the tour has seemed unlikely to go ahead, after Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O’Connor raised security concerns in a letter to Pakistan board. Nielsen though said he had little option but to prepare for the trip, and said the selectors will be doing the same as they chew over composition of a squad that may not be going anywhere.

“We haven’t heard anything different, all we’re hearing is speculation,” he said on Monday. “(We can’t reach a decision) until CA sends a delegation over there to assess how the security is going. There’s a whole lot of information that needs to come in before we can make a decision.

“Until they say it’s off we have to plan as though it’s on, whether it’s in Pakistan or somewhere else,” he added. CA general manager of public affairs Peter Young said security delegation to Pakistan — likely to include cricket operations manager Michael Brown, Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Paul Marsh and security consultants — had yet to book flights. “At the moment everybody wants to wait until after elections to see what the situation is like and then we will be able to make a call,” he said.

Source:Cricket News