January 12, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 02,1429

SYDNEY, Jan 11: Australia’s planned tour of Pakistan in March is again in doubt following a suspected suicide bombing in Lahore.

There have been concerns about the tour since the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Thursday’s attack in Lahore has added to the worry.

Australia is closely monitoring the situation and plans to send an inspection team to Pakistan next month before making a decision.

“We are very concerned about the latest bombing,” Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday. Australia’s Test batsman Phil Jaques said the topic had been discussed by some of the players but they were leaving the decision to the authorities.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting had previously said his players held grave concerns about touring while all-rounder Andrew Symonds has already indicated he would skip the tour if he considered it unsafe.

“It’s up to Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) to work through,” Jaques told reporters on Friday. “Obviously we’re keeping a close eye on what’s going on over there [in Pakistan] and we’ll make a decision closer to the time.”

Australia have not played a Test in Pakistan since 1998 with their three-Test tour in 2002 moved to Sri Lanka and the UAE because of security issues. They are due to play three Tests, five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 international from March, but the tour schedule has yet to be finalised.—Reuters