KARACHI: Pakistan cricket authorities were forced to schedule all five One-day Internationals against current world champions Australia in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the Aussies refused to visit the Asian country over security fears.

The series opener is in Sharjah on March 22 and the last match is in Dubai on March 31. Sharjah and Dubai will host the two matches each with one game scheduled in Abu Dhabi.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had invited Australia to play at least two of the five One-day Internationals in Pakistan to further their attempts to revive international cricket at home, suspended since attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009.

Since then Pakistan have hosted finals of Pakistan Super League for the last two years and played matches against a World XI, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

The West Indies women’s team played three Twenty20 Internationals in Karachi from Jan 31-Feb 3 this year.

But Cricket Australia (CA) acted on their government’s advise not to tour Pakistan where no Australian senior team has played since 1998 over security fears.

PCB director international cricket Zakir Khan showed disappointment over Australia’s refusal to tour.

“The PCB was optimistic that it will be able to convince Cricket Australia to send its side for some matches after successfully staging high-profile bilateral international series and the Pakistan Super League matches in the past 18 months,” Zakir said. “But, we are disappointed for the enthusiastic and passionate cricket fans in Pakistan who will now have to wait for some more time before they can see the Australia cricket team live in action for the first time since 1998.

“However, the CA has confirmed that they will send their security expert to oversee the execution of security plans for the PSL 2019 matches and bilateral series against other international sides in Pakistan, and will also speak with the ICC-recommended PCB security consultant. In the meantime, the CA have confirmed they will maintain regular contact with the ICC,” Zakir added.

The series is part of both sides’ ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 preparations, where Australia will defend the title. Both the sides will square off against each other in the event proper in Taunton on June 12.

“Australia are the world champions and this series will provide the Pakistan cricket team an opportunity to assess their Word Cup preparations,” Zakir added. Pakistan are ranked fifth on the ICC ODI team rankings, while Australia are sixth — just two points behind.

Schedule:

March 22: First ODI (Sharjah, D/N).

March 24: Second ODI (Sharjah, D/N).

March 27: Third ODI (Abu Dhabi, D/N).

March 29: Fourth ODI (Dubai, D/N).

March 31: Fifth ODI (Dubai, D/N).

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2019