Australia cancel Pakistan cricket tour

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Australia have pulled out of their cricket tour of Pakistan because of concerns over security.

The announcement was made Tuesday just hours after two bombs killed at least 20 people and injured many more in the eastern city of Lahore.

The tour, which had been due to start on March 29, had been in doubt with leading players and officials expressing their unease amid a fresh wave of violence to engulf Pakistan since the February 18 elections.

"We are very sorry that the tour could not take place at this time," Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O'Connor told a news conference in Melbourne.

"This was a difficult decision based on independent review of the circumstances prevailing in Pakistan at the moment.

"We wish no loss to the Pakistan cricket board and look forward to undertaking this tour in the near future."

Australia's foreign minister Stephen Smith backed the decision to call off the tour.

"The Australian government absolutely supports the decision that Cricket Australia has made," Smith told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"Regrettably, the security situation in Pakistan is not good," he said.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Dr. Nasim Ashraf said his board was "obviously very disappointed" but hoped that the tour could be re-arranged at the first opportunity.

But Pakistan cricket coach Geoff Lawson, a former Australian Test star, expressed his disappointment with the decision.

"I don't think they (Australia) are justified in postponing the series. I am living in Pakistan and feel secure," Lawson said.

"I am disappointed, although it was expected. It is a shame that we are not playing Australia at a time when they are beatable."

Australia, ranked world number one, have not toured Pakistan since 1998, with a 2002 series being played in Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates, again because of security fears.

The decision paves the way for all Australian players involved in next month's lucrative Indian Premier League to take a full part in the new Twenty20 competition.

Australia could face a fine of up to $2 million under existing International Cricket Council protocols if the sport's governing body finds the decision not to tour is unjustified, but this is thought to be unlikely. E-mail to a friend

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