Australia cancels Pakistan tour

Australia have cancelled their October Test cricket tour of Pakistan and proposed that it should be shifted to a neutral country because of security fears.

Australian Cricket Board chief executive James Sutherland and chairman Bob Merriman made the announcement at a news conference in Melbourne on Friday.

"This morning the ACB met and decided that regretfully the Australian team will not tour Pakistan for the Test series in October," Merriman said.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board is currently considering its position.

"Our latest advice is that the environment in Pakistan is unlikely to change in the next few months," Merriman added.

Concerns over security were heightened when six Pakistanis were shot dead in an attack on a school for children of foreign missionaries near Islamabad on Monday.

A string of recent cricket tours to Pakistan have been affected due to safety fears.

The triangular one-day series has already been moved to Kenya, New Zealand pulled out of its tour after a bomb attack killed 11 French people in May and a tour by West Indies was played on neutral territory in Sharjah.

Several senior Australia players including captain Steve Waugh have expressed concerns about touring Pakistan.

Mail Cricket Editor