Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Todd Greenberg says the players are keen to tour Pakistan, with preliminary scouting underway.
In November it was revealed that Australia would in March embark on a tour of the country for the first time since 1998.
Cricket Australia and the ACA recently sent representatives to the subcontinent, with the two organisations having begun to sketch out logistics and security.
“(CA CEO) Nick Hockley and myself both sent representatives from our organisations,” Greenberg told Sportsday on Wednesday night.
“They’ve just come back from a 10-day ‘pre-tour’. We’ll provide some reports from those pre-tours and they’ll go to our respective boards.
“I’m not an expert, we’re not experts in international relations and security, so we’ll be relying on some of the best experts in the world on this.”
Australia’s last visit to Pakistan is best-remembered for captain Mark Taylor’s declaration when he was on 334 in Peshawar, which left him level with Donald Bradman’s Australian Test record score.
The tourists won the first Test in Rawalpindi by an innings and 99 runs on the back of a Steve Waugh century and nine wickets from Stuart MacGill.
The following two Tests in Peshawar and Karachi were drawn before Australia swept the three-match one-day series.
Current Australian coach Justin Langer batted at first drop, and battled back from a first-ball duck in the first Test to record a century in Peshawar and a fighting 51 in Karachi.
A quarter of a century later, he could lead Australia back to the place where he established himself in the Test team.
“We’re really keen to tour,” Greenberg affirmed.
“We think it’s an important part of our obligation to the global game, for our players to continue to tour, but clearly we want to make sure there’s safe passage for them.”
Pakistan did not host a Test match at home for more than 10 years, after a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers was fired upon by gunmen in Lahore in March, 2009.
The Sri Lankan team returned in the second half of 2019 to play two Tests and six white-ball matches, followed by Bangladesh for one Test in 2020, while South Africa played five-day fixtures in Karachi and Rawalpindi in early 2021.
However in September, both New Zealand and England pulled out of planned tours, leaving the Pakistan Cricket Board apoplectic.
The Black Caps cited an “escalation” to security threat levels, while England pinned it on “mental and physical wellbeing,” and alluded to security and COVID restrictions.
Greenberg is optimistic the Australian tour will befall no such fate, but acknowledges there may be individuals who won’t feel comfortable visiting the country.
“Ultimately, there might be some players who decide that it’s not for them,” he admitted.
“We have great respect for that. What we need to do first and foremost is provide the best information, and give them all of that information, so they can make informed decisions.
“But if a player or two decides that this tour is not for them, then that’s a decision we’ll respect and we’ll support them on.
“Before we even get to that, we’ve got to satisfy ourselves that the tour can proceed, and we’re doing that really closely with CA and aligning our interests to make sure we get the information we need.”
The first Test is set to commence on March 3 in Karachi, followed by matches in Rawalpindi and Lahore.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/12...e-passage-australian-cricketers-keen-to-tour/
