Cricket Australia (CA) should make a decision by the end of the week whether they will proceed with their tour of Pakistan, a spokesman for the governing body in Australia said on Monday. CA chairman Creagh O'Connor and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf are expected to discuss the tour over the telephone later in the week.
Australia's cricketers have expressed concerns about the security situation in Pakistan after a series of suicide bombings following the general election, which had been postponed by the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto late last year.
"The next step will be the phone conversation - we are waiting for that to take place," CA spokesman Peter Young told Australian Associated Press on Monday. "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."
CA met with Australian government officials last week to gather information on the situation in Pakistan. The Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) cancelled their planned inspection of the country last week after they deemed it to dangerous to travel there.
The PCB have already reduced the tour, which is scheduled to begin on March 29, to a month and promised unprecedented security for the Australian team. The possibility of a neutral venue had also been mooted, though Pakistan officials have said they are not keen on moving the tour.