October 02 Wednesday 2002
Pakistan confident that Sharjah Tests will go ahead 

KARACHI: A senior Pakistan cricket official said on Tuesday he expected two test matches against Australia in Sharjah to go ahead as planned later this month, despite Australian concerns over security. 

Pakistan play the first Test of their 'home' series against Australia in Colombo from Thursday before moving to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates for the second and third matches starting on October 11 and 19 respectively. 

The series was originally to have taken place in Pakistan, but the Australian government advised its team against travelling to Pakistan because of security concerns raised by a string of terrorist attacks. "As far as we are concerned, we have heard nothing officially from the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) about their players having doubts over playing in Sharjah," Pakistan Cricket Board Director Chishty Mujahid told. 

Australia's one-day captain Ricky Ponting said on Sunday that some of his team mates had concerns about touring Sharjah, given the possibility of a negative reaction in Gulf states to any U.S. military action in Iraq. 

An ACB spokesman told Australian media recently that the board would continue to monitor the situation in the region. 

Mujahid said Pakistan had no back-up plans for the tests in Sharjah, but added: "We are confident of the matches being held on schedule. And we are going ahead with our preparations. "Unless something flares up in the next few days to cause concern, I don't see any problems in the matches being held in Sharjah. 

"Financially we are already struggling because of being forced to shift the series to neutral venues. We are lucky to have got a title sponsor for this series. But we really can't afford any more changes in our plans," Mujahid said. 

Earlier this year Pakistan played a home series against the West Indies in Sharjah after they refused to tour Pakistan.