Australia says Pakistan tour unlikely before 2009

Cricket Australia on Tuesday postponed a scheduled tour to Pakistan due to security fears and said it was unlikely to proceed before 2009.

CA chief executive James Sutherland said his organisation had no alternative but to postpone the tour, which was due to begin later this month, given the security situation in Pakistan.

"Our absolute priority has been the security and safety of our players and our employees,"

he told reporters in an announcement that came as two explosions rocked the city of Lahore, killing at least 20 people

"We've left no stone unturned, we wanted to play this tour."

He said CA acted on advice from the Australian government and its own advisers.

While CA said in a statement that it hoped the tour could be rescheduled "in the near future", Sutherland made it clear that it would not happen before next year at the earliest.

"There's a couple of windows in 2009 and 2010 and there might be a little bit of massaging in order to make that happen,"

he said.

Officials from both countries are scheduled to meet in Dubai next weekend to discuss possible dates for the deferred tour.

Sutherland denied that pressure from Australian players was behind the decision.

"I understand that some players may have had feelings about the tour, but from CA's perspective we had absolute obligations were were committed to under the Future Tours programme,"

he said.

"If the safety and security warnings had been sufficient for us to tour then we'd have toured."

The Australian government, which has a travel advisory warnings against travel to Pakistan, said it was pleased with the decision.

"I welcome today's decision by Cricket Australia and the Pakistan Cricket Board to postpone the Australian Cricket Team's planned tour of Pakistan,"

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.

"The agreement reached between the two boards is a welcome outcome in light of the uncertainty surrounding the tour."

Sutherland said neutral venues had been considered but the final decision on them had been up to Pakistan, which was "desperate for the tour to proceed on its home soil.

Asked if Australia had not cancelled the tour outright because it feared a fine from the International Cricket Council, Suther land replied:

"It's not that easy to answer that question simply, there's a process that is in place under the ICC regulations and we've done everything in accordance with those regulations."

CA chairman Creagh O'Connor said in a joint statement with the PCB that it had been a difficult decision.

"We wish no loss to Pakistan Cricket Board and look forward to undertaking this tour in the near future,"

he said.

In the statement, PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf expressed disappointment at the decision.

"I guess there is not much we could do and sincerely hope that the tour of Australia to Pakistan can materialise at the earliest opportunity."