Australia in 'really good hands', coach says after Peshawar blast

Published March 4, 2022
Australia coach Andrew McDonald. — Cricket Australia
Australia coach Andrew McDonald. — Cricket Australia

Australia coach Andrew McDonald on Friday said that the team was in "really good hands", adding that the visitors touring Pakistan would be guided by security experts if things were to change.

His remarks came hours after at least 56 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Peshawar's Kocha Risaldar area.

The success of Australia's first tour of Pakistan in 24 years could potentially lead to regular visits by top teams who have largely shunned the South Asian country since a 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore.

Hours after the six-week tour got underway with the opening Test in Rawalpindi, the bombing took place in Peshawar, some 140 kilometres from where the Australia team are staying in Islamabad.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"Our thoughts are obviously with the people in Peshawar," McDonald said after the opening day's play in Rawalpindi.

"For us we'd be guided by our security team.

"We're in really, really good hands, we have been since the guys landed. So we'll be guided by those people, the experts in the field [...] if anything were to change, clearly they will be able to be talking about (that)," the coach added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has arranged presidential-style security for the entire tour which also includes Test matches in Karachi and Lahore followed by four limited-overs matches in Rawalpindi.

Earlier on Friday, PCB chief executive Faisal Hasnain hoped Australia's tour of Pakistan would encourage major cricket nations to shed their apprehensions and visit the country.

Opinion

Editorial

By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...
Not without reform
Updated 22 Apr, 2024

Not without reform

The problem with us is that our ruling elite is still trying to find a way around the tough reforms that will hit their privileges.
Raisi’s visit
22 Apr, 2024

Raisi’s visit

IRANIAN President Ebrahim Raisi, who begins his three-day trip to Pakistan today, will be visiting the country ...
Janus-faced
22 Apr, 2024

Janus-faced

THE US has done it again. While officially insisting it is committed to a peaceful resolution to the...