CricketViewer.com

The Australian tour to Pakistan in March and April 2008 is getting sour day by day, as Australian captain has informed about his reservations to Cricket Australia in writing.

Ricky Ponting has written to his board that due to the security concerns and the dilapidated situation of infrastructure in Pakistan, he and his team mates are very apprehensive and very uncomfortable. Though Cricket Australia hasn’t decided over this issue yet, but they are vying very hard through back door channels to swap the series with Pakistan.

According to the ICC’s Future Test Programme (FTP), Australia are scheduled to tour Pakistan in coming March, their first visit to this part of the world in more than nine years, while the Pakistanis are slated to play Down Under in the 2009-10 season, and Aussies want to swap this series.

But Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Dr. Nasim Ashraf has ruled out any such thing by saying,”There is no question of playing at a neutral venue whatsoever and there is no question of us going to Australia at this time. We are scheduled to tour Australia in 2009 and we will keep our commitment and we expect them to do the same as well.”