Australians poised for tour decision

SYDNEY, Australia -- Australia will decide by the end of the week whether or not to go ahead with their scheduled cricket tour of Pakistan.

Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O'Connor and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) counterpart Nasim Ashraf discuss the issue on the telephone this week with the tour in considerable doubt.

"The next step will be the phone conversation -- we are waiting for that to take place," the Australian body's spokesman Peter Young said on Monday.

Australian players have expressed reservations over the security situation in Pakistan following a spate of suicide bombings.

"Clearly the clock is ticking and there is a sense of expectation where we will reach a point certainly no later than this week on working out exactly what is happening," Young said.

The proposed tour has been compressed into a month, starting on March 29, and PCB officials have said they are against moving Australia's tour outside of Pakistan because of its long-term impact on cricket in the country.

The Australian team has not played in Pakistan for a decade. In 2002 a series was switched to Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. E-mail to a friend