MULTAN, Sept 8: Pakistan is ready to offer governmental level security for South Africa for their matches in Peshawar and Karachi, the PCB said on Monday.

The United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) wrote to the PCB earlier this month asking them to consider moving the matches from Karachi and Peshawar to safer cities.

The UCBSA had been advised by their foreign ministry on the basis of feedback from the South African High Commission in Islamabad that Karachi and Peshawar were areas of concern.

The UCBSA’s communications director Bronwyn Wilkinson confirmed on Monday that they had received the letter from PCB which they had passed on to the foreign ministry. “We can’t ignore government advice,” Wilkinson said.

Tony Irish, the chief executive of the South African Cricketers’ Association, said: “The players are pretty concerned about the situation, but we’re satisfied with how the UCBSA is handling the matter.”

Karachi is scheduled to host a warm-up game, ODI on Sept 26 and the third and final Test starting on Oct 23. The second Test is due to be played in Peshawar (Oct 16-20).—Agencies