September 7, 2003	Sunday	Rajab 9, 1424

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LONDON, Sept 6: South African cricket team’s tour to Pakistan later this month appears to be in doldrums for reasons other than security which has been cited by the United Cricket Board (UCB) to change the Test venues from Karachi and Peshawar.

Poised to win the series at The Oval against England, the touring members of the team are rumoured to have informed their board that after a grinding tour of England, they may not be able to extra pressure of touring Pakistan where security risk is a major fear.

When asked about the reluctance of the tour party members to tour, the Media relations Manager of UCB Gerald de Kock touring with the team said the UCB was keeping a close watch on the situation and were regularly getting a brief from the South African Foreign Office who were in touch with their High Commissioner in Islamabad.

“At the moment the tour is on and I suppose we will tour, entirely depending on however the information and briefing that the cricket would receive to convince them that there is no danger involved” said De Kock.

The media officer says that the players need assurances that they will be safe. Pakistan has already shifted the Rawalpindi Test against South Africa to Lahore and changing the venues from Karachi and Peshawar could be a huge logistic and security problem because of the lack of facilities on other venues who have remained unfit despite millions of rupees spent on them in the last few years.