PCB invites Bangladesh to fill in for Australia

The Pakistan Cricket Board has invited Bangladesh to play a limited-overs series next month after Australia postponed its scheduled tour.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has invited Bangladesh to play a limited-overs series next month after Australia postponed its scheduled tour to the strife-torn country citing security concerns.

HT Image

"The dates of the ODI series will be finalized within the next few days because Bangladesh is the only Test-playing country which has no international commitments next month," PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf was quoted as saying in the International Cricket Council website.

Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O'Connor's announcement of Australia's decision came just hours after two bomb blasts in Lahore on Tuesday.

The tour was scheduled to start March 29 but clouds of uncertainty were hanging over it after Pakistan plunged into internal crisis following the assassination of former Prime Minster Benazir Bhutto.

Australian players and officials raised security concerns amid a wave of violence in Pakistan before the elections.

"This was a difficult decision based on independent review of the circumstances prevailing in Pakistan at the moment," O'Connor said.

Australian and Pakistani cricket boards will meet at ICC headquarters here next weekend to discuss possible dates for the postponed tour.