SYDNEY, May 8: Australia were assessing the risks of touring Pakistan in September in the aftermath of bomb blast in Karachi Wednesday.

Australian Cricket Board chief executive James Sutherland said the ACB would closely monitor the situation in Pakistan ahead of their Test and One-day International tour.

“With some months to go before we travel to Pakistan the situation is clearly quite fluid,” he said.

“Given the time frame it would be inappropriate to lock into a position today. This process allows us to make well-informed decisions closer to the time.

“The ACB will continue to receive advice from the relevant experts to help the Board make a proper judgement on the situation in Pakistan.

“I am also conscious of recent events that have affected international cricket in this region, and I will be speaking to the Pakistan Cricket Board as soon as possible about how Australia can help them in managing this situation,” he went on.

“The safety of our players and team management is the ACB’s highest priority. There is a thorough process in place to ensure we have accurate and timely information as to what is happening in any region that the Australian team visits,” Sutherland said.

“We’ll consult with the Pakistan Board, the Australian High Commission in Pakistan, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for expert opinion on any risks posed to Australian players, and our own international security experts,” he added.

The ACB also plan to carry out a pre-tour inspection in conjunction with the Australian Cricketers’ Association.

Six weeks ago, the ACB cancelled the Australian team’s tour to Zimbabwe after deciding the risk was too great following political unrest in that southern African country.

The only other time Australia refused to tour a country was during the 1996 World Cup in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka when Australia would not play matches in Colombo.

Pakistan are due to play three One-day Internationals in Australia next month.

Meanwhile, international cricket’s fledging World Test Championship has been thrown into disarray.

The Test Championship table, currently headed by Australia, was introduced last year. Each of the 10 Test nations was expected to have completed both a home and away series against each other by the end of 2005.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: “Given this extremely grave situation the ICC fully understands the decision taken by the two boards (PCb and NZC) to cancel the second Test match.

“The PCB has worked extremely hard to provide a high level of security during this tour but it is virtually impossible to predict and control extraneous events.”—AFP/Reuters