SYDNEY, May 20: Australian Test captain Steve Waugh says he is willing to tour Pakistan but won’t raise the issue when he meets the Australian Cricket Board to discuss his contract Tuesday.

The 36-year-old said if the ACB asked him to go to troubled Pakistan he would.

The question would then be what sort of side Waugh would lead.

His twin-brother Mark as well as teammates Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and vice-captain Adam Gilchrist have all expressed grave reservations about touring Pakistan.

Their reluctance to travel will probably force the ACB to rearrange its second successive series after it aborted the recent trip of Zimbabwe because of security concerns following national elections.

There has been speculation the series could be played a neutral venue in the Middle East or north Africa. Sharjah offered Monday to host a Test series between Australia and Pakistan.

Waugh has faith the ACB and the Pakistan Cricket Board will make the right decision, saying he would be on the plane to Pakistan if that’s what the ACB decided.

“I will support whatever the board recommend,” he said Monday.

“I’m sure they (ACB) would have done their homework - and yeah, I would (go).”

The tour, scheduled for September-October, has been thrown into disarray since 14 people were killed in a bomb blast outside the Karachi hotel of the touring New Zealand team earlier this month.

Of more immediate interest to Australia’s Test captain will be his place in the one-day national team.

Dropped from that team on the recent tour of South Africa, Waugh will be looking for some clarity on his one-day future.

“I have a contract meeting tomorrow and I’ll probably get a good gauge as to how they see me in regards to one day cricket and Test cricket,” Waugh said.

Meanwhile, the Gulf emirate of Sharjah Monday said it was ready to host the Test series.

“We would be ready to host the Tests series in Sharjah come October,” said Abdulrehman Bukhatir, whose Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) is the leading organiser of one-day cricket in the world.

Bukhatir said it would be sad if Australia do not tour Pakistan, but was willing to step in to offer Sharjah as a neutral venue if needed.

“We have the infrastructure and if we are asked, we will make ourselves available,” Bukhatir said.

“The CBFS has always been willing to take the initiative if it helps the game. Sharjah has already been blooded with the West Indian and Pakistan matches so it has the necessary pedigree.”

Sharjah hosted two Tests between the West Indies and Pakistan earlier this year after that tour too fell through because of security fears.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is expected to decide the fate of the Australia-Pakistan series at its annual meeting in London next month.

ICC spokesman Mark Harrison said it was up to the Pakistan and Australian Boards to shift the series to Sharjah.

“From our point of view it would be better to play the series at a neutral venue than not to be able to play it all,” Harrison said.

“But obviously the ideal situation is for all countries to be able to play matches domestically.”

The CBFS has recently built a 25-million dollar cricket facility in the Morrocon city of Tangier, which will host a tri-series between Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa in August.

“We expect Morocco will also be a success and it shouldn’t be long before we get the right to Test status there,” Bukhatir said.—AFP