May 15  
Aussies Pak tour in jeopardy as top players express reservations

SYDNEY: Australia tour of Pakistan in September appears highly unlikely after a handful of their Test stars said on Tuesday they would refuse to tour even if the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) decided it was safe to go. 

Captain Steve Waugh and bowlers Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne believed it was too dangerous to tour following last week bomb attack in Karachi which killed 14 people and made New Zealand fly home on the morning of the second Test.

Warne told Australian Associated Press from Monte Carlo he would put his safety and family ahead of cricket. "If it was on in Pakistan, I don't think I would be going," the leg spinner said. "For obvious reasons. There a war going on there, there was a bombing with New Zealand. If it was tomorrow and we were going, I wouldn't be going, no way.

"I don't think anyone would hold it against people if they decided not to go to Pakistan. It's a big decision especially when you got kids involved. "I got three kids and there a lot more at stake when you got 
family. It a pretty hostile place at the moment."

Warne is in Monte Carlo with Test skipper Waugh, one-day captain Ricky Ponting and fast bowler McGrath, representing the Australian team nominated for World Team of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards. Warne said the ACB had made the right decisions in the past in cancelling the recent tour of Zimbabwe and forfeiting a 1996 World Cup match in Colombo because of Sri Lanka civil war against the Tamil Tigers. McGrath said he had already been told by his wife he would not be going to Pakistan. "At the end of the day, we play cricket and we love what we do, but to put your life on the line for a sport, is not what it all about," McGrath said.

Waugh said no-one should be forced to go if they felt at risk. "It pretty hard to give in to terrorism," he said. "You look at it from both sides. One side you go for the good of cricket and not giving into terrorism and on the other side is that it may be dangerous and you are putting yourself at risk. 

"We want to go out there and play cricket but if you in danger, you got to consider what the options are. They got to send players over there who want to go. If the players don't want to go, there is not much point in sending a team."

Alternative venues including Sharjah, Morocco and Bangladesh have been suggested for the three-Test series.

The Karachi bombing was the third attack involving foreigners in the country in six weeks. The wife and daughter of an American diplomat were killed in a grenade attack in Islamabad in March while an American journalist was kidnapped and murdered earlier in the year.

Pakistan Cricket Board director Munawwar Rana said it would take a lot of effort to convince the International Cricket Council and other cricket boards to play in Pakistan.

ACB chief executive James Sutherland said it was too early to decide on Pakistan. "It's a serious issue and the ACB are treating it extremely seriously the safety and security issues are of paramount concern to us," Sutherland said. "But we still months away from the tour and there are plenty of things to work through in that time. 

Circumstances can change in that time which is why I don't want to be getting into hypothetical situations."

A neutral venue looms as the most likely option for the Pakistan Cricket Board, which would still receive most of the revenue. Pakistan played the West Indies earlier this year in Sharjah, which became cricket most tainted venue following bribery scandals. The ACB has previously refused to send teams to Sharjah. "We have had concerns about Sharjah as a venue in the past but with it now being approved by the International Cricket Council as a suitable venue then that gives us a bit of comfort," Sutherland said.