MELBOURNE, Sept 29: Australia one-day captain Ricky Ponting said on Sunday some of his team mates had security concerns about touring Sharjah as part of next month’s three-Test series against Pakistan.

“I suppose you do get a bit worried when you sit back and see some of the news that’s coming on the television over here,” Australia’s one-day captain said from Colombo.

“We haven’t spoken about it as a team but I’m sure some of the individuals have got a few concerns,” Ponting added in an interview aired on Australian television Sunday.

Australia coach John Buchanan said last week the team would be guided by advice from the Australian Cricket Board (ACB).

Australia are in Colombo after losing their semifinal of the Champions Trophy against Sri Lanka on Friday.

The first Test of the three-match series against Pakistan will be played in Colombo, starting Thursday.

The second and third Tests will take place in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The series is being played in neutral countries because of security fears.

An ACB spokesman told Australian media last week the board would continue to monitor the impact on the UAE of the conflict between the United States and Iraq.

Meanwhile, India and Sri Lanka were not the only teams to be concerned by the bad weather that washed out the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy final in Colombo Sunday.

Australia and Pakistan were also watching the skies anxiously as they prepared for their three-test series starting in Colombo on Thursday.

For Australia there is an ominous parallel with the last time they were in Sri Lanka, at the same time of year in 1999.

Then they lost a three-Test series 1-0, but the second and third matches were both badly affected by rain that affects cricket in Sri Lanka at this time of year.

The final Test of that series took place at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo between Sept 30 and Oct 4, but only 158.3 of a scheduled 450 overs were possible.

Australian team manager Steve Bernard, who was also in charge of the tour three years ago, watched the rain fall on Sunday night but was philosophical about the situation.

“It happened three years ago and it was desperately disappointing to have that trip marred by the weather,” he told Reuters.

“But it is just one of those things that is out of our control and we just have to hope the elements are kind to us.”

Bernard said it was too early to speculate on whether the squad would look to move on to the venue for the second and third Tests, Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, if the rain continued.

“That is a hypothetical situation and we just hope the weather fines up before we even have to think about anything like that,” he added.—Reuters