KARACHI, July 13: Pakistan’s cricket chief said Saturday the Australian cricket team would be protected by the highest security possible if they went ahead with their October tour.

“We are committed to providing as much security as possible to the Australians,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia said.

Zia said the PCB was in discussions with the national government over what security measures to take, and his assurance would soon be made formally to the Australian Cricket Board (ACB).

He was reacting to an ACB spokesman’s comments of Friday that the Australians were seeking safety assurances for the players if they were to go ahead with the three-Test tour of Pakistan.

Pakistan’s military ruler General Pervez Musharraf Thursday urged the Australians to tour Pakistan and said he would talk with Australian politicians to get the tour to go ahead.

Zia tried to play down the danger to the New Zealand players during their shortened tour.

“We provided New Zealand the best of security until that blast occurred but New Zealand team was never a target,” he said.

Outgoing PCB director Brig Munawwar Rana also downplayed the May bombing as a reason for Australia not to tour Pakistan.

“New Zealand appreciated our security arrangements and what happened in Karachi could have happened any where in the world,” Rana said.

A military spokesman last week said that Pakistan’s fight against terrorism had begun to pay dividends after arrests of some key suspects and hoped things would settle down.

The unrest in this strife-torn country has already caused Pakistan to lose hosting rights to a tri-nation one-day series involving Australia and New Zealand in August-September.

It was originally scheduled to be staged in Karachi but is likely to be shifted to Nairobi, Kenya.—AFP