MELBOURNE, Aug 9: Australia’s decision to cancel their Test cricket tour of Pakistan was unfortunate but understandable in the light of security fears, Prime Minister John Howard said Friday.

“Well, I am very understanding of the decision that’s been taken, regrettable though it is,” Howard told reporters after the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) made the announcement in Melbourne to cancel the October trip.

ACB chairman Bob Merriman said the decision was taken following advice from Australian Government officials.

“It was always up to the board to decide whether the tour should go ahead,” Howard said.

“As is known, the Pakistani president (General Pervez Musharraf) telephoned me about this several weeks ago.

“I know how much the tour meant to Pakistan but I ask them to understand the safety of the players was the paramount consideration of the board.”

Concerns over security were heightened when six Pakistanis were shot dead in an attack on a school for children of foreign missionaries near Islamabad on Monday.

A string of recent cricket tours to Pakistan have been affected due to safety fears.

The ACB said they had proposed to their Pakistani counterparts, the PCB, that they might try to play the test series in a neutral country. Howard said: “I hope that at some time in the not too distant future circumstances alter so that an Australian team can go to Pakistan.

“It’s a great test-playing nation and I hope that alternative arrangements can be made for the test series to take place somewhere else.

“And I know from my discussion with the chairman of the cricket board Bob Merriman that the ACB is willing to find an alternative and will try very hard to compensate for this necessary decision.

“I did know of it in advance and I communicated with the Pakistani president in advance of the board’s announcement this afternoon.

“It’s regrettable but understandable,” Howard said.

Australian players including test captain Steve Waugh and his twin brother Mark have expressed concern about security in Pakistan.

“I think (Pakistan) will understand that it was apparent from remarks made by both Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh that there was an understandable concern.

“It’s difficult there and the situation is complicated by the fact that Pakistan has taken a very strong stand in the war against terrorism, and I feel for the Pakistan cricket authorities and for their Government because of that.”—Reuters