Full-strength Australia squad set to tour Pakistan: report

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Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell plays a shot during the fourth one day international (ODI) cricket match between Pakistan and Australia at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on March 29, 2019. — AFP
Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell plays a shot during the fourth one day international (ODI) cricket match between Pakistan and Australia at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on March 29, 2019. — AFP

No player from the Australian cricketing squad indicated they want to sit out the country's upcoming tour to Pakistan and selectors said they were "well down the track" to finalising a Test squad, according to a report by cricket.com.au on Tuesday

The website quoted chief selector George Bailey as saying that he believed security plans to be "very, very robust and very, very thorough" after multiple briefings.

"I believe the boards are still working through some of the minor details around that tour, so once that gets the formal tick of approval then we'll announce the squad post that, but we're reasonably well down the track," Bailey said.

Australia will tour Pakistan in March and April — the country's first visit since 1998 — to play three Tests, three ODIs and one Twenty-20 international T20I match.

The Test matches will be played in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore from March 3 to 25 while all four white-ball matches will be played in Lahore form March 29 to April 5.

Last month, the chief executive of Cricket Australia (CA) had cleared the air over uncertainty surrounding the team's tour of Pakistan, saying the bilateral series would go ahead as planned despite Covid-19 concerns.

Earlier this month, Australian skipper Pat Cummins said he believed the vast majority of Australia’s Test squad would travel to Pakistan but said he fully understood if any opted out of the tour.

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