March 14, 2008	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 5, 1429

SYDNEY, March 13: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will look to reschedule Australia’s Test tour in November or next March after the original trip was postponed on Tuesday.

The Australian players are relieved the decision was made to cancel the visit over security concerns, but they are still due in Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy in October, an event David Morgan, the ICC president-elect, wants to go ahead as planned.

PCB’s Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi told the Sydney Morning Herald that Cricket Australia (CA) had asked the hosts to suggest a new date.

“We have looked at the international schedule and all of the other factors, and we think either November this year or March next year would be a good time for the tour to go ahead,” Naghmi said.

“If it was to proceed in November, it would most likely be a split tour, with the Australians then coming back in March.

“But if it were to take place in March, it would be a full tour. From reading James Sutherland’s statements, I think he favours March.”

Australia are also due in India in October and will host a Test series against New Zealand and start a contest with South Africa before the end of 2008.

The window in the calendar theoretically frees Australia’s players to take part in the IPL, but there have been suggestions CA will stage a short limited-overs series before leaving for the West Indies on May 10.

However, Tim Nielsen, the national coach, has not finalised Australia’s schedule and thinks Twenty20 matches would be good preparation.

“As long as it fits in and CA is comfortable with it, I don’t have any problem,” Nielsen told The Age.

“It’s nice that they can play some competitive cricket. I always encourage guys to be playing county cricket when it fits in because it is nice to be playing competitive, organised cricket.

“It is probably the best preparation they can get to put their bodies through those sorts of workloads.”—Agencies